His unlikely victory captivated sports fans who were taken by the colt’s humble beginnings. He was ridden again by Leon, a little-known jockey from the Midwest-grits-and-hard-toast circuit who had thrown down a masterpiece of big-time race riding at Churchill Downs – a swerving, rail-skimming trip worthy of a tear of appreciation from the Mona Lisa. Rich Strike ran in the back of the pack and never found the gut-busting gear that powered him down the stretch of Churchill Downs and to victory at impossible 80-1 odds. “The one thing I told Irad was to be patient, and I think he got the best trip in the race.” “I thought both horses were traveling really great the whole way,” Pletcher said. He blew past the early pacesetter We the People in the stretch and held off stablemate Nest, a filly, for an easy three-length victory. Mo Donegal left little doubt that he was the best horse Saturday. The colt paid its backers $7.20 for a $2 bet and rewarded its owners Donegal Racing and Repole Stable with an $800,000 check for first place. The results attest to the mundane nature of the final leg of the Triple Crown: Mo Donegal lived up to his status as a nearly 3-1 favorite, finishing the 1½-mile marathon in a final time of 2 minutes, 28.29 seconds. – made sure the trophy for what is known as the Test of the Champion stayed home. Instead, a colt named Mo Donegal, trained by New York-based trainer Todd Pletcher and ridden by the nation’s top rider – another New Yorker, Irad Ortiz Jr. If they did, Sonny Leon aboard Rich Strike would have been ding-donging down the stretch of the 154th running of the Belmont Stakes on Saturday. So, fairy tales do not have legs in horse racing.
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