Kentucky Derby 2022

Two comments.

If you watch one of the videos, when the pony rears, the pony rider’s foot comes out of the stirrup. Whether he got his stirrup back or not, I can’t tell, but good hanging on!

Other comment: when I was 8 years old, I was walking past the pasture where my uncle’s thoroughbred colt was turned out. He snaked his head between the boards in the fence and bit me in the waist before I even knew what was happening. It hurt so bad, I couldn’t even take a breath. I had a complete circle bruise on my waist for a couple weeks.

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What a sh*thead of a colt–I mean do not get me wrong, horse is clearly a fantastic race horse but +1 to whoever said not a good boy.

Horses in the wild set boundaries with their peers pretty aggressively. Sometimes you have to do the same for the sake of everyone’s safety in a particular situation. That outrider IMO did as graceful a job as possible under the circumstances.

Fingers crossed Rich Strike is a bit better behaved in the barn… They said in the newsroom that they’d pull him out for the press this morning.

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I have watched this I think 3 times, and its a great view. Big time kudos for a young jockey who is apparently pretty talented but hadn’t yet made a name for himself. Its also interesting to see how much room was available on the inside as he was making his move.

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Re the “savaging” - I’ve only watched that video twice but it looked to me as though the outrider at first had hold of Rich Strike’s rein. I think that is when the colt got really po’d. At some point another outrider came up and handed a catch rein to the outrider and he managed to get it clipped to Rich Strike’s bit - and they had also started moving more forward at that point, so the colt didn’t feel as trapped. I would think the first outrider would have had a catch rein but I wonder if he dropped it before he could get it clipped on.

As for why they didn’t just let him “run it out” before trying to catch him - don’t they always catch the winner right away in these big races so what’s her name can ride up and do a quick interview with the jockey? It looked like she was trying to approach but wisely thought better of it.

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And did I see somewhere that Rich Strike has the same damsire as Mine That Bird (who also won the Derby as a very longshot)?

I think that with the pick up pony being savaged after the race, I think that the outrider had simply picked up the horse’s rein, and had not yet had time to put the slip strap on, through the bit ring, so the jockey could not pick up the opposite rein to hold the horse and his jaws off the pony. Because the horse’s head was being held towards the lead pony by the pony’s rider. If he had been able to immediately put the slip strap on, the jock could have straightened the horse’s head AWAY from the pony, and helped stop the savaging. And yes, the leather guard on the shoulder that most pony riders put on their ponies to protect them from being bitten, should have helped shield the pony from the jaws… that’ what it’s for. I thought I saw a guard there, but the horse was attacking further forward of where the guard was, up on the pony’s neck, not on the shoulder. It was an “unfortunate” happening, for sure, for everyone. Why some horses do this sort of thing? IDK. It’s a reason to use a “cold blooded” horse as a lead pony instead of a TB… thicker skin, not as sensitive (but not as fast as a “pick up pony”). But those were really savage bites that were being delivered to that lead pony, serious bites. And I don’t think that the jockey had the option of being able to pull that horse’s head and jaw off the pony, with the lead strap not in place.

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This is an excellent point, and I suspect exactly what happened.

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Smart Strike was a pretty popular and successful stallion and a better-than-average broodmare sire; it’s not unusual to see him in a pedigree. But good eye.

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Totally agree about the reins.

But it wasn’t a lead pony, it was an outrider’s pony used for catching loose horses. Everywhere I’m from, we don’t put guards on outriders’ horses, only the lead ponies. Because the outrider needs to be unhindered to catch a fast, loose horse. And generally, horses are tired and not savaging the pony when they are being caught by an outrider.

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It will be interesting to see, assuming Rich Strike goes on to the Preakness, if outrider horses will be equipped with bite guards in anticipation of this happening again.

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Overhead view if it has not been posted.

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Is there a link to see what happened with the outrider’s horse? I did not get to see the race live, and the replay did not show it. Thanks in advance.

Today

@MHM. Try this, there’s an embedded vid in this link:

https://www.on3.com/news/rich-strike-still-energized-after-race-win-bites-other-horse-2022-kentucky-derby/

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I liked and noticed him too

Thanks. Definitely looking a bit naughty there.

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I guess the reason I think it may have been better to let the horse go is because I’m not coming at the situation from the opinion that this is some crazy beast out to kill everyone in his path. I am assuming he was reasonable in the post parade and warm up, if he did anything super crazy it probably would have been mentioned. To me it looked like he was being super naughty but not that if they let him go he was going to go savage the next person or horse he could. His adrenaline was up, there is no way at all he can be interviewed in the state he was in. Just let him go and gallop back with all the others. You all seem to think he was a serious danger to anything to cross his path. I simply disagree.

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But you cannot see what that outrider saw… the traffic on the track, the other horses being pulled up… 95% of that out of camera range. He was more likely to be a danger to himself - and then we would be hearing cries of why did the outrider let him go? Why could he not hold him? He was trying to get him moving forward… but Rich Strike had another mission at that moment…

~ ~ ~ ~

Just as Tom Durkin messed up the race call a bit when Mine That Bird came out of nowhere up the rail and was suddenly in the front and won, Larry Collmus had the same thing happen to him! :laughing:

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I think that the outrider handled the situation as best they could in the situation they were in. I really do not get all the negative comments about what they did. Could a loose galloping wound up horse cause mayhem? Yes, in a heartbeat.

I also don’t get all the negative stuff about Rich Strike. Yes, his behavior is not desirable. Does it make him some dangerous rouge? I doubt it. He is literally a young stud. He is in a crowded, noisy place. He has just galloped the race of a lifetime. He is a horse. Horses are reactive prey animals. Why is the use of stud chains pretty common to handle stallions and colts? There is a reason. The horse calmed down enough to get under control, and finish the rest of the business of the day. How many young horses have stupid behavior that they do not repeat throughout their lifetime? Many, I would guess. How many horses would be wound up by all of the noise and commotion of Derby Day? Many, many, many.

And this horse is not some rank out of control being-- watch the ride down the track where his rider gave him an abrupt turn into another lane to move up the track. Literally a sharp right. The horse went. He was responsive to his rider and ran a great memorable race.

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I’ll just agree to disagree with you all. No problem, but someone said they don’t understand how anyone could think letting him go would be better and that is why I think that. Doesn’t matter, they didn’t let him go so it all is what it is. I’d be surprised if the outrider doesn’t take some public flack. Rightly or wrongly.

“The horse owned by a man who had won less than 10 races in his life defeated a horse owned by one of the most successful owners in the business, Ron Winchell, a man whose runners have bankrolled more than $27,000,000.”

Re Rich Strike. MHMs comment above mentioned above how many races or wins “he” had, and I think was confusing this comment from the owner about how many the Owner has had who wasn’t saying RC had that many wins.

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