Rich Strike's Kentucky Derby upset greater than sire Keen Ice's Travers

Keen Ice will forever be remembered for an upset victory, as he ran down Triple Crown hero American Pharoah to win the 2015 Travers Stakes, stunning an enthusiastic crowd at Saratoga as he returned $34 for the win.

Rich Strike said, ‘Dad, hold my mint julep.’

Rich Strike, from the first crop of Calumet Farm stallion Keen Ice, pulled off the second-biggest upset in Kentucky Derby history on Saturday evening at Churchill Downs, shocking a full house as he overhauled favored Epicenter in the final stages and returning $163.60.

Finishing fifth behind racing’s improbable new star, also bred by Calumet, was Mo Donegal, carrying the colors of Donegal Racing, which campaigned Keen Ice through four seasons. Despite their own disappointment on Saturday, the Donegal partnership, which is headed by Jerry Crawford, was tickled by its connection to the winner, by their “beloved” stallion, the partnership posted on its Twitter account. Rich Strike’s trainer Eric Reed said that one of the partners also sought him out on Saturday night post-race.

“I did talk to an owner of Keen Ice. She came into the winner’s area and congratulated me,” Reed said. “I’m sure those guys are happy at Calumet, and hopefully, this’ll help Keen Ice, help get him going more. My client loves him – he’s got two more, and he bred a mare, and bought a yearling by him. And I just hope that [Rich Strike] does him proud.”

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Keen Ice, by Curlin and out of the Awesome Again mare Medomak, was bred in Kentucky by Glencrest Farm. He was sold for $48,000 as a weanling at the Keeneland November breeding stock sale, then was a successful pinhook when Donegal purchased him for $120,000 out of the Keeneland September yearling sale.

The colt broke his maiden at second asking in the fall of 2014 at Churchill Downs for trainer Dale Romans, and later that fall, was third in the Grade 2 Remsen Stakes. He continued on to be third in the Grade 2 Risen Star and fourth in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby early the following year, continuing to pick up points that placed him in the starting gate for the 2015 Kentucky Derby.

Keen Ice finished seventh in the Derby as American Pharoah kicked off his Triple Crown sweep. Five weeks later, he was third behind American Pharoah and Frosted in the Belmont Stakes. But Keen Ice wasn’t done with American Pharoah just yet. He was a fine second to the champion, beaten 2 1/4 lengths, in the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational.

Then came the Travers. American Pharoah put away Frosted after dueling with him early, but Keen Ice was lurking just behind. He rallied to best American Pharoah by three-quarters of a length, adding more lore to Saratoga’s infamous reputation as the graveyard of favorites.

Keen Ice made 13 more starts after that finest hour – the majority of those for Todd Pletcher, who he was transferred to in early 2016 – and continued to tangle with champions. Keen Ice was third in the 2016 Breeders’ Cup Classic behind Eclipse Award champion and leading money winner Arrogate and two-time Horse of the Year California Chrome. His biggest victory in the latter half of his career came when he won the Grade 2 Suburban in 2017 at Belmont Park, rolling home by three lengths over Sovereign Award champion Shaman Ghost.

Following that, he went on to finish second in the Grade 1 Whitney to eventual Horse of the Year Gun Runner and was second in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup to Diversify. A minor ankle injury kept him out of the 2017 Classic, which was to have been his career finale, and he retired to Calumet with a record of 24-3-4-5 and earnings of $3,407,245.

Keen Ice covered 176 mares in his first season, according to The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred, while standing for an advertised fee of $20,000. That number dropped in subsequent seasons, a typical pattern as the industry waits to see if a young stallion can produce results in the commercial arena and on the racetrack.

He covered 73 mares in 2019, 49 in 2020, and 48 last year. After finishing 12th by earnings on the 2021 freshman sire list, he is currently standing this season for an advertised fee of $7,500.

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Calumet, which came under the reclusive billionaire Brad Kelley’s stewardship in 2012, sends a sizeable number of its own mares to its stallions, and that was the case in the breeding that produced Rich Strike. His dam Gold Strike, by Smart Strike, was Canada’s champion 3-year-old filly of 2005, winning the Woodbine Oaks and finishing third in the Queen’s Plate. Calumet bought the mare for $230,000 at the 2015 Keeneland November breeding stock sale – fittingly enough, in the same year when Keen Ice was pulling off his biggest performances.

The pairing of young farm stallion Keen Ice in his first season with champion Gold Strike gave Calumet a record-extending 10th Kentucky Derby victory as a breeder, but the first in the Kelley era. Calumet bred 1941 Triple Crown winner Whirlaway and 1948 Triple Crown winner Citation, along with Derby winners Pensive (1944), Ponder (1949), Hill Gail (1952), Iron Liege (1957), Tim Tam (1958), Forward Pass (1968), and Strike the Gold (1991).

Kelley, under both his previous Bluegrass Hall moniker and with Calumet, has bred seven other Derby starters, with the best finish among those coming when Bravazo was sixth in 2018. Happy Jack, racing in the Calumet colors as a homebred, was 14th behind Rich Strike, who was famously claimed away from Calumet by his current connections.

According to Equineline statistics, Keen Ice is the sire of 30 winners from 92 starters through May 8. Rich Strike is his first stakes winner in the contiguous United States. The stallion is the sire of Bold Leader, winner of the Clasico George Washington, a Group 3 race in Puerto Rico. He is also the sire of Auditora and Keen Princess, both Group 3-placed in that jurisdiction. His other stakes performers are Who Hoo Thats Me, stakes-placed against New York-breds last year, and Majestic Frontier, third in the Miracle Wood at Laurel Park.

Prior to the Derby, Rich Strike finished third in both the Leonatus Stakes and Grade 3 Jeff Ruby at Turfway Park to put himself into the Derby gate for his moment in the sun.

“Proud is not strong enough a word,” Romans said via social media on Sunday morning of his now-classic sire Keen Ice.