Can You Believe the 2022 Kentucky Derby Winner Finished 80–1
Did anyone see this coming?
Hello everyone, after the exciting finish yesterday with the horse race, I thought about writing something completely different. This is not my norm, but I thought it would be fun. Don’t know if you witnessed the race, but here we go.
The 2022 Kentucky Derby may have ended only yesterday, but the winner of the race can already be crowned. However, you probably wouldn’t guess who it was unless you’re an avid horse racing fan.
As the odds that anyone would place their bet on this horse to win were extremely long — in fact, the horse came off at 80–1. What was the secret to this unlikely victory? Read on to find out.
Who Is Rich Strike?
Finishing first at a horse race is an achievement that most anyone can understand. But winning at an 80–1 betting odds is something else entirely. It’s extraordinary; it’s otherworldly. And with less than five minutes to post time, many spectators hadn’t even heard of Rich Strike before he crossed the finish line ahead of a field of 20 horses.
So who is Rich Strike and how did he win so emphatically? To some, he’s America’s new horse racing hero — but to others, Rich Strike might be considered something else entirely: lucky.
A closer look at his career reveals that luck may have had nothing to do with his victory. In fact, there are two ways you could look at Rich Strike’s success in the 2022 Kentucky Derby and both would be right.
On one hand, you could say he was simply in the right place at the right time. No one expected him to win or even place in such a prestigious event (he didn’t run as well in any of his previous races).
He was just there because someone bought him into a race and decided to bet on him despite long odds. But if you were paying attention during those previous races, you would have noticed that Rich Strike has been showing signs of brilliance for quite some time now.
Post Analyzed
The Kentucky Derby favorite is an average horse. It’s always about a solid horse at 20/1 odds or less, because it’s quite often that these horses actually win. Rich Strike, however, finished 80–1 on Saturday.
It was such a shock to people who bet on him that many posts are analyzing why he won. They used to say Pay $2 get your ticket back and $2 profit but now they just say pay $3 and you’re broke because if he were to come in last place with these odds, you wouldn’t get anything back as a winner…
A lot of things played into how he came in so late and ended up in first place. The lucky ones made a lot of money.
What Does it Mean for Horse Racing Fans?
If you had backed Rich Strike to win the Kentucky Derby, you would have paid a fraction of what his connections spent to get him there. In fact, if you placed a $2 bet on Rich Strike in 2022 when he was 80–1 odds, you would have made over $6,000 and that’s without putting down a dime!
So it begs the question: Is there any value in betting on longshots at all? Not really…
But even losing gamblers can get lucky every once in a while.
If a horse like Rich Strike (or Justify) is more than 100/1 odds right now and has legitimate talent, do not pass up your chance at big payouts, it just might happen one day.
What Does it Mean for Bettors?
This is obviously disappointing for bettors. They thought they’d found a great horse, and they lost money betting on it. On the other hand, some (or many) of them will have learned something in that process: they won’t be nearly as excited about long shots in future races.
Instead, they’ll look for better value at shorter odds. This has important implications for race organizers, who depend on spectators and bettors to sustain their business model.
That same reliance makes it crucial that race organizers manage risk by limiting exposure to unexpected events like a Rich Strike winning, it could easily turn away more casual fans than it attracts.
What Does it Mean for Future Winners at This Year’s Derby Race?
Everyone’s talking about how Rich Strike was able to win at such long odds. What does it mean for future winners at one of America’s most exciting horse races?
I think that in a few years, just like after a famous long-shot horse race, we might remember 2022 as an important time in horse racing history, when horses started winning more often and advancing more quickly.
If you look at all of the sports, it appears that people are realizing that big upsets are worth celebrating more than ever before. As a result, more wagers are coming in on longer shots than ever before.
Rich Strikes Chances for Triple Crown
Rich Strike won the Kentucky Derby in one of the most unlikely ways possible.
The horse did not enter the race until the day before the start. He was the longest shot in the field and the second-longest shot in history to win at 80–1. And he had a long way to go to catch the two horses who were favorites to win the race.
Rich Strike’s trainer, Eric Reed, must now decide whether he will run in the Preakness Stakes on May 21. As the winner of the Kentucky Derby, the 3-year-old colt was automatically qualified for the race.
If Rich Strike wins the Preakness, he will join a small group of horses who have won the first two legs of the Triple Crown before the Belmont Stakes.
Rich Strike is still a long way from winning the Triple Crown, but he is the only horse who could do so in 2022. Only two horses have done it since 1978, out of the 13 that have done it.
What Does 80–1 Pay at the Kentucky Derby?
Rich Strike, a late entry in the grandest horse race, was given odds of 80–1. That means a $10 win bet on the Derby winner would have paid out $818.
On Saturday, he stunned the sports world by winning by three-quarters of a length over second-place finisher Epicenter (4–1 favorite). Rich Strike is the Derby’s second-longest longshot to win. Donerail, the winner in 1913, was backed at 91–1.
Rich Strike paid $163.60 to win, $74.20 to place and $29.40 to show. He completed the 1 1/4 mile run in 2:02.61.
Epicenter paid $7.40 to show and $5.20 to place.
Zandon, who finished third by three-quarters of a length, paid $5.60 to show.
The $2 exacta returned $4,101.20.
The $1 trifecta paid a total of $14,870.70.
Hope you were on the winning side.
Conclusion
We often worry about making sure we bet on a winner and that’s certainly a valid concern. But it shouldn’t stop us from looking at value. If you can find a horse at 50–1 that should be closer to 5–1, you have found your winner.
The 2022 Kentucky Derby featured a horse finishing 80–1 named Rich Strike that would easily win any future race. We all want to bet on favorites but when those favorites aren’t producing, it’s best to get out of their way and let other people take them down.
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