'A lot of screaming going on': Ocala farm cheered as horse it broke won the Kentucky Derby

At 80-1 odds heading into Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, last-minute addition Rich Strike was the longest shot in the field at Churchill Downs in Louisville. 

Sporting No. 21 in a field of 20, the chestnut colt only entered the race after Ethereal Road was scratched on Friday morning. For those watching at home, the horse was in the back of the pack for most of the race, even off the screen at times, until passing several horses in the home stretch to finish first. 

As owner Rick Dawson said after the 148th Run for the Roses, “We’ve never entered a race we didn’t think we could win, ever.” 

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Rich Strike was the first Derby horse ever for Dawson, trainer Eric Reed and jockey Sonny Leon – and also the first Derby tie for Mayberry Farm in Ocala. 

“It was probably around the 3/8 pole, I was looking for Rich Strike. I'm like, ‘Where is he?’ " April Mayberry, who owns the farm with her sister Summer Mayberry and mother Jeanne Mayberry, recalled. “And all of a sudden obviously at the end he just snuck up the rail, and my house was insane. I had friends over, and I’m lucky my neighbors didn’t call the police. There was a lot of screaming going on.” 

From rambunctious colt to Kentucky Derby champ

The underdog’s story may have started in Lexington, Kentucky, where he was bred by Calumet Farm, but like many thoroughbred racehorses, he spent some of his training days in Ocala. 

Now 3 years old, the colt was foaled on April 25, 2019. He was sired by Keen Ice, which finished seventh in the 2015 Derby and won two graded stakes in his career. His dam, Gold Strike, won a graded stakes race as well. Her sire Smart Strike, whom Mayberry says Rich Strike resembles, won two graded stakes races. 

As a yearling, Rich Strike was broken for Calumet at Mayberry Farm by rider Eddie Ordonez. The horse trained there from fall of 2020 to May of 2021 with nearly 20 other horses from the same client. 

“He was just kind of still a teenager when he left. Sometimes the colts, they remind me of high school boys,” Mayberry joked. “They do everything except what they're supposed to do, and that's kind of common in the thoroughbred colts. They’re rambunctious and still playing and they're not serious yet.” 

Still, she says Rich Strike was a "pretty good boy." She recalls thinking he probably had some talent, “but it was going to take him a little while to find it.” 

Mayberry Farm has broken and trained other successful horses, like 2009 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and 2010 American Horse of the Year Zenyatta, as well as Flightline, which is currently undefeated in three starts. 

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Mayberry herself previously worked for Bob Baffert when his horse Silver Charm won the 1997 Kentucky Derby Preakness Stakes, followed by Real Quiet winning the 1998 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. 

Horses run in the family, too, as Mayberry's great-grandfather had trained 1903 Derby winner Judge Himes.

After his time in Ocala, Rich Strike was sent to trainer Joe Sharp and then claimed by Reed for Dawson, who owns RED TR-Racing LLC, for $30,000 last fall at a low-level claims race.

Heading into the Derby, he had only won one of seven races and placed third in three more, but Rich Strike’s second career victory on Saturday earned his team $1.86 million. 

'Horses don't know what their odds are'

To Mayberry, it was more amazing that Rich Strike got in at “the 11th hour” following Ethereal Road’s scratch than that he was a long shot. 

“It’s horse racing, and I’m fourth generation. This has been my entire family’s life, and when you’ve done it for as long as we have, you see things happen,” she said. “If they come out of the starting gate, anything can happen. Did I think he was a shoo-in? No, but stranger things have happened.” 

Rich Strike was the second longest shot to ever win the Derby, behind Donerail, a 91-1 winner in 1913 in a smaller eight-horse field.

As Mayberry says, though, “horses don't know what their odds are.” 

In addition to making headlines for the victory, Rich Strike gained attention for his attempts to bite an outrider and pony guiding him after the race, providing entertainment and concern to some viewers. 

“That adrenaline is just pumping through them and I'm sure either he didn't know what was happening or just like a kid having a temper tantrum, same thing,” Mayberry said. “He was kind of a tough guy (at her farm) but not mean.” 

Reed has also said Rich Strike is not a mean horse but was in race mode and didn't understand why they were slowing him down.

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Rich Strike passed Derby favorite Epicenter and Zandon, which finished second and third, in the last seconds of the race before heading to the winner’s circle, where he was draped in roses. Ocala-born Simplification, which is owned by local Tami Bobo, finished fourth, followed by several other horses with Marion County ties. 

Reed plans for Rich Strike to run at the Preakness Stakes on May 21 in Baltimore for the second leg of the Triple Crown. 

Mayberry expects the horse to be competitive again, so if you live near her and hear any screaming that day, don’t be alarmed. She’s just cheering Rich Strike on. 

Contact reporter Danielle Johnson at djohnson@gannett.com.