LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The morning after the 2022 Kentucky Derby, horse racing took an exuberant and hopeful victory lap. Rich Strike had reintroduced the sport to the dreamer in all of us, winning at odds of 80-1.
His trainer, Eric Reed, was an everyday Kentucky hardboot from the casino racetracks. His rider, Sonny Leon, had washed out on the more glamorous Florida circuit before finding success riding every race possible in Ohio.
Suddenly, after winning the first leg of the Triple Crown races, they were stars, modest ones, but for all the right reasons.