No Triple Crown for 2022: Rich Strike won’t run Preakness

All bets are off for a Triple Crown in 2022 as the owner of Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike has announced he won’t be running the next horse race.

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Rick Dawson announced through the Maryland Jockey Club that his horse will “point toward the Belmont in approximately five weeks,” WBAL reported.

Dawson said in a statement that his horse’s appearance at the Preakness was dependent on the Derby. If the horse would have skipped the first race of the triple crown, he would have run in the Maryland race, but since he ran in Kentucky, he’s going to take the 5 or 6-week break the team had already planned, meaning he’ll be on schedule for Belmont.

>>Previous coverage: Longshot Rich Strike wins 2022 Kentucky Derby

Rich Strike had 81-1 odds of winning the Kentucky Derby and wasn’t originally listed among the horses until Ethereal Road pulled out of the race.

Rich Strike’s jockey, Sonny Leon was suspended for four days for careless riding during the third race on April 27 at Thistledown Racecourse, The Associated Press reported.

Ohio racing officials said Leon “deliberately and aggressively” steered another horse, One Glamorous Gal, towards the rail to block other horses from passing him. One Glamourous Gal was disqualified from the third-place win and finished sixth.

The suspension was Leon’s fifth since last fall.

However, if Rich Strike would have run the Preakness, the suspension would not have affected the race, the AP reported.

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