Rich Strike Won’t Win Triple Crown, Skipping 2022 Preakness Stakes

For the fourth straight year, there will be no Triple Crown winner. Rich Strike won’t compete in the 2022 Preakness Stakes after a shocking win at the Kentucky Derby.

Rich Strike was a late entry into the Kentucky Derby, replacing Ethereal Road after the horse was scratched a day before the race. With 80-1 odds, Rich Strike became the second-biggest underdog in history to win the Run for the Roses.

“Our original plan for Rich Strike was contingent on the Kentucky Derby. Should we not run in the Derby we would point toward the Preakness,” Rich Strike owner Rick Dawson said in a statement. “Should we run in the Derby, subject to the race outcome and the condition of our horse, we would give him more recovery time.”

The Preakness Stakes will take place on Saturday, May 21, two weeks after the Kentucky Derby. Rich Strike is expected to return for the final leg of the Triple Crown on June 11 at the Belmont Stakes.

“Obviously, with our tremendous effort and win in the Derby it’s very, very tempting to alter our course and run in the Preakness at Pimlico, which would be a great honor for all our group,” Dawson said. “However, after much discussion and consideration with my trainer, Eric Reed, and a few others, we are going to stay with our plan of what’s best for Ritchie is what’s best for our group, and pass on running in the Preakness, and point toward the Belmont in approximately five weeks.”

Despite the horse’s victory at Churchill Downs, Rich Strike wasn’t expected to be among the favorites to win the Preakness Stakes. That honor belongs to Epicenter, which took second place at the Kentucky Derby.

In 2019, Kentucky Derby winner Country Horse skipped the Preakness Stakes. It’s rare for the Derby champion not to compete in the second leg of the Triple Crown.

Justify is the last Triple Crown winner, becoming the 13th horse to achieve the feat in 2018. In 2015, American Pharoah became the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years.