‘Why not?’ Some win big with 80-1 shot Kentucky Derby victor Rich Strike
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2022 Kentucky Derby coverage
Click below to view more content from the Lexington Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com covering the 148th Kentucky Derby on May 7 at Churchill Downs in Louisville.
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Stephanie Rogers hadn’t won on a race all day.
Rogers, whose husband works at Churchill Downs in Louisville, was able to take in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby as a fan, but she had failed to find success betting on the races.
She began betting around the seventh race of Saturday’s 14-race card, and unsuccessfully bet exactas up until the 148th running of the Kentucky Derby at 6:57 p.m.
That’s when Stephanie strayed from her usual betting strategy at the urging of her son.
“I don’t usually do win bets,” Rogers told the Herald-Leader.
But she did this time. And she won big.
Rogers placed a $3 win bet on Rich Strike, the 80-1 long shot out of post position No. 20 that was only in the Derby field after the Friday morning scratch of Ethereal Road.
Rogers said her son told her to do the bet because of Rich Strike’s long odds.
“Just kind of picked the longest shot and said, ‘Why not?’” she recalled.
Then Rich Strike became the horse with the second-longest odds in Kentucky Derby history to win the famed race.
Trained by Eric Reed and ridden by Sonny Leon — who were both making their Kentucky Derby debuts on Saturday — Rich Strike had career earnings of $111,289. He’d made seven starts, with one win and three shows.
But while morning-line favorite Zandon and post-time favorite Epicenter battled for the race lead while the finish line approached, Rich Strike struck from the inside of both to win.
“First of all, I didn’t think he was going to win. I thought Epicenter (or) Zandon were going to win,” Rogers said. “But I saw (Rich Strike) come down and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, he just won. I just won a lot of money.’”
Rogers won about $280 from her bet, which also included Epicenter (who finished second) to place on the ticket.
It’s a shame she didn’t follow her habit of placing exactas.
A $2 exacta with Rich Strike and Epicenter paid $4,101.20.
A $1 superfecta (the top four finishers with Zandon third and Simplification fourth) paid $321,500.09.
Don’t feel too bad for Rogers, though. She said she still finished in the positive on Saturday.
Voice from above helps bettor win with Rich Strike
Janelle Burns was another Derby bettor who found good fortune with Rich Strike, something she attributed to lessons taught to her by her father.
Burns told the Herald-Leader in a Twitter direct message that her father always gave her this advice when he would take her to the racetrack: “Save some of your pocket money to place a bet on the long shot.”
Burns followed through with that advice Saturday.
Before post time in the Derby, Burns caught a glimpse of Rich Strike walking out on the Churchill Downs main track, with his odds at 80-1.
She made her bet on Rich Strike just two minutes before post.
“I put some pocket money on him,” Burns said. “When he won I just gasped and tears welled up when I thought of my dad and all the times he would give me a $5 bill and say ‘Go bet on the long shot.’”
Burns tweeted that she bet $2 on Rich Strike to win and won $163.80.
It was a simple lesson that Burns’ father passed down to her, and one that paid off in a big way.
“No special research, checking Beyer ratings, no watching previous races, just a voice from heaven,” Burns explained. “Later watching the post race show, listening to the owner (Rick Dawson) and trainer (Eric Reed), I thought it was worth every penny.”
‘I forgot I bet on him’
Ann Spicer Reilly’s bet on Rich Strike was rooted in logic.
“I’ve learned that it is not that unusual for a longshot to win in a big field like the Derby,” Reilly told the Herald-Leader over Twitter direct message. “When I first saw him I thought to myself ‘Rich Strike looks awfully good.’ (A) bit wild, which I liked.”
Reilly had already bet on Mo Donegal (who charged late to finish fifth), but felt comfortable putting $10 on Rich Strike to win.
What were Reilly’s thoughts when she saw Rich Strike come out of nowhere on the front stretch to take the lead from Epicenter?
“He had fire in him and a determination I hadn’t seen for a while in a race horse,” Reilly said. “I was so excited about him winning, I forgot I bet on him until about a half hour later.”
Reilly wrote a book in 2017 called “Man O’ War and Will Harbut: The Greatest Story in Horse Racing History.”
“I love horses more than money, so the big thrill continues to be picking out the horse I thought looked good on race day when I saw him,” Reilly said.
Other Rich Strike bettors share winning tickets
Throughout Saturday and even into Sunday, others who hit it big by betting on Rich Strike to win the Derby shared their winning tickets online.
This story was originally published May 7, 2022 at 8:29 PM.
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