Reed Follows’ Own Show for Rich Strike in Belmont

Seven of the eight competitors in the Belmont Bets presented by NYRA Bets (G1) kept to a fairly standard weekly training schedule leading up to the 1/2 mile race, recording their final hits in the span of time. three days from June 4-6.

Coach Eric Reed chose to do things a little differently with the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) winners Rich Strike . He has distanced himself Keen Ice colt’s two race-led works, recording the first in Churchill Downs On 21 May, the second and last ship was there on 30 May, 12 days out of Belmont. The 3-year-old, owned by RED TR-Racing, went half a mile: 47 1/5 in the first drill, followed by the second move 5 intervals: 59, arriving in the afternoon hours between sets. race at Churchill .

Rich Strike’s training session this past week at Belmont Park was affected by usual galloping and jogging activities.

Yes, most days. When Rich Strike arrived at the Belmont main track on June 7, he was essentially galloping at two minutes faster, with the Daily Racing Form timing his last threes at almost full speed. workout is: 40.48. Then, Reed phoned in on June 8 for easy training under driver Gabriel Lagunes, who will likely continue in the race.

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“I train so many different kinds of horses that you can’t just feed them every six or seven days. I’m in the habit of training horses to their needs anyway,” says Reed. “Once I picked out what made him happy, he really started to get better in training and his races improved as well. That’s just the way to do it.

“He likes having that really good job. He’ll tell us when we haven’t done enough. Sometimes I’ll go easy on him and he’ll give us a simple reminder when he’s done. He’s off the track, standing on his hind legs, like, ‘You haven’t done enough.’ We never try to make him go any speed, and every now and then he will do what he did yesterday. We’ll let him go a little bit, but not for the whole day. way. “

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Rich Strike received chiropractic care leading up to Belmont, Reed said. Reed previously told Thoroughbred Daily News that Rich Strike was on a vet’s list in Kentucky late last month for such treatment. Rich Strike has since been removed from that list, which indicates horses are ineligible to run for a period of time for a variety of reasons, including being unhealthy or following certain conditioning methods. certain value.

The trainer says chiropractic work is done on many of Reed’s horses.

“He’s a real muscle horse. So we work on his muscles, etc., just the basics,” he notes.

This week, Rich Strike has looked pretty good compared to what he did in practice before the Derby. It was the makeup of the Belmont field that gave Reed pause with his late runner.

The ferocious pace that ensued during the Derby was unlikely to materialize in Belmont, where only one horse was evident in speed. We who . Despite the length of the race, speed horses are often difficult to catch in the endurance test, in part because they can often place easier fractions. Leisurely fractions are predicted in Saturday’s race.