How it started: September 17, 2021, at Churchill Downs (Claimed for $30,000 by trainer Eric Reed for RED TR-Racing). Rich Strike debuted a month earlier in a maiden special weight (MSW) race at Ellis Park. He finished 10th in that race. Proving that there’s more than one way to scout claiming horses. And as they say in the industry I spent decades in (investing), “past performance is not a guarantee of future results.”

How its going: Rich Strike will forever be etched in racing history after winning the Kentucky Derby as an 80-1 “very” long shot in 2022. And will forever make it so that I cannot see Sonny Leon’s name in a current entry and not immediately think back to that magical moment.

Here’s How It Happened

• The Humble Beginnings: Bred by Calumet Farm and trained initially by Joe Sharp, after that rough debut on turf, Calumet dropped him into a $30,000 maiden claiming race on dirt at Churchill Downs in September 2021.

• The Turning Point: Trainer Eric Reed and owner Rick Dawson saw past his turf debut, noting his strong dirt workouts. They dropped a $30,000 claim slip and won a 2-way shake. Rich Strike romped by more than 17 lengths that afternoon—the best $30,000 Reed ever spent.

• The Historic Ascent: After grinding through the 3-year-old prep trail at Turfway Park, Rich Strike drew into the 2022 Kentucky Derby as an last-minute eligible scratch on Friday morning. Starting from post 20 at astronomical 80-1 odds, jockey Sonny Leon wove through a suicidal pace to pull off the second-biggest upset in Derby history. Here’s the replay:

• The Legacy: Rich Strike became the first horse claimed out of a maiden claiming race to ever win the Kentucky Derby, generating over $2.5 million in total purse earnings from a $30,000 claim box slip.

As you can see above, Rich Strike’s career is about as much of a “bottom line” story as we’ll see in this sport. Did he have a long successful career, filled with stakes wins? No. Did he provide an amazing return on that claiming investment? Of course.

This is a bottom line business. Translation: if you reach the winners’s circle in the biggest race of the year, the rest is all details, eh?

That’s why Rich Strike is an easy call for entry into our Hall of Claim!

This entry to HorseClaiming.com’s Hall of Claim is the story of a hard-knocking west coast horse that became a millionaire asset for an iconic TV host.

“Alex, I’ll take Hall of Claim for $400, please”

The answer is: Reba’s Gold

“Who was a $28,000 claimer at Fairplex Park who on September 19, 1999 was purhased for a pedestrian $28,000 by trainer Dan Hendricks for owner Creston Farms (Alex Trebek’s 724 acre farm in Creston, California)?”

• The Humble Beginnings: Sired by Slew o’ Gold, Reba’s Gold was a late-maturing colt who wallowed in the lower-tier claiming brackets of the California fair circuit. Operating under exposed sprint form, he was entered for a modest $28,000 tag on the tight, bullring turns of Fairplex Park.

• The Turning Point: Recognizing that the colt’s physical frame and pedigree were completely unsuited for short bullring sprints, trainer Dan Hendricks dropped the winning slip. The moment Reba’s Gold entered his new barn, Hendricks immediately transitioned him to two-turn, long-distance routes on major tracks.

• The Historic Ascent: The surface and distance change worked wonders. Reba’s Gold transformed into an incredibly durable graded-stakes competitor. Over the next four years, he went toe-to-toe with the finest handicap horses in the country, hitting the board in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic, the Grade 1 Goodwood, and capturing a definitive victory in the Grade 3 Seabiscuit Handicap.

• The Legacy: Reba’s Gold retired with nearly three-quarters of a million dollars in purse equity, delivering an astronomical return on a $28,000 fair circuit claim. He later transitioned into a successful regional stallion career, passing on his trademark structural durability.

Reba’s Gold became a “Jeopardy champion” of horse racing. And a reminder that even today, all it takes is some vision, a change of venue and strategy, hard work and a bit of luck. Because this type of rags-to-riches story is one we see happen continously in the horse racing business.

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Our latest inductee to the Hall of Claim is Brass Hat. The Hall of Claim recognizes some of the greatest stories in the history of horse racing that started with a horse being claimed out of a race. Just as they are every day now. Because you never know.

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The Race: January 29, 2004, at Turfway Park (Entered for a $15,000 price tag in a $1 mile Maiden Claiming event)

• The Humble Beginnings: Sired by Prized and out of the Dixie Brass mare Brassy, Brass Hat was bred and owned by small-scale operator Albert Bradley and conditioned by his son, trainer Buff Bradley. Needing a tight, competitive route to build authentic lung capacity and cardiovascular fitness without facing top-tier unexposed prospects, his connections made the incredibly risky move of debuting the homebred colt under a cheap $15,000 claiming tag at Turfway Park.

• The Turning Point: Running over a muddy track at one mile, Brass Hat showed immense closing potential, launching a wide rally to finish a strong second behind a horse named This Is the King. Because Albert Bradley owned the colt, any rival stable could have dropped a $15,000 slip and stolen a future superstar before the gates opened. Fortunately for the Bradleys, nobody shook down for him that afternoon. The race served as his ultimate fitness launchpad; he returned to Turfway less than a month later to break his maiden in a Maiden Special Weight.

• The Historic Ascent: Brass Hat immediately proved that elite talent can hide in humble places, rapidly climbing from the winter claiming ranks straight into the graded stakes deep end. He became a giant of the handicap division, capturing the Grade 2 Ohio Derby, the Grade 2 Indiana Derby, and the Grade 1 Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park, where he set a blistering, long-standing track record for 1 1/8 miles (1:47.79). He also traveled across the globe to finish second on the wire in the $6 million Dubai World Cup.

• The Legacy: Brass Hat retired with over $2.1 million in total earnings, proving that an equine athlete exposed to a cheap maiden claiming tag could mature into an international titan. He spent his long retirement as a beloved pasture companion at the Bradley farm in Kentucky—an enduring, grassroots symbol of the claiming game’s ultimate dream.

If you like the Hall of Claim series, let us know, and tell a friend about HorseClaiming.com We can fill a “virtual museum” with some of the best underdog stories in sports!

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Lava Man (photo credit: America’s Best Racing

Our latest inductee to the Hall of Claim is Lava Man. The Hall of Claim recognizes some of the greatest stories in the history of horse racing that started with a horse being claimed out of a race. Just as they are every day now. Because you never know.

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• The Humble Beginnings: Sired by the unheralded Slew City Slew, Lava Man was so overlooked early on that he began his career at a county fair meet in a $12,500 maiden claiming race, finishing fourth at odds of 35-1.

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• The Turning Point: Recognizing raw physical capability beneath an unpolished surface, Doug O’Neill dropped a $50,000 claim slip on the gelding during a mile turf race at Del Mar in August 2004. It would go down as one of the greatest claims in thoroughbred history.

• The Historic Ascent: Lava Man didn’t just step up in class; he completely redefined versatility. He became the first and only horse in racing history to win Grade 1 races on three distinct surfaces: traditional dirt, turf, and synthetic polytrack.

• The Legacy: He matched the great Native Diver by winning three consecutive editions of the Hollywood Gold Cup (2005–2007) and retired with over $5.2 million in earnings—the ultimate $50k investment. After his racing days, “The Coach” returned to the track as O’Neill’s lead stable pony, famously escorting another champion, I’ll Have Another, to his Kentucky Derby and Preakness victories.

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If you like the Hall of Claim series, let us know, and tell a friend about HorseClaiming.com We can fill a “virtual museum” with some of the best underdog stories in sports!

This Week’s Inductee: STYMIE

The $1,500 King of the 1940s

If you ever need proof that greatness can be found in a claiming race, look no further than Stymie. And I’m not talking about one of the lead characters in the early 20th century kid comedy The Little Rascals. But maybe that’s how the horse got its name.

In 1943, a legendary trainer named Hirsch Jacobs saw something in a two-year-old chestnut colt that had only won one of his first three starts. Jacobs dropped a claim slip for just $1,500.

The Result? Stymie didn’t just move up; he became “The People’s Horse.” Known for his “come-from-the-clouds” running style, he would sit at the back of the pack and wait until the final turn to launch a massive, heart-pounding run. This was back when horse racing was a popular spectator sport, in a very different way than it is now.

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• Career Earnings: $918,485 (A world record at the time of his retirement in 1949). That’s more than $7,000 per start, a figure that today would make for a very profitable claimer in most barns.

• The Iron Horse (not to be confused with NY Yankees great Lou Gehrig) In his first 5 years on the track, he averaged 23 starts a year. We don’t see that anymore. Reminds me of how MLB starting pitchers used to routinely go 9 innings!

• Career Stats: 131 starts, 35 wins, 33 seconds, and 28 thirds.

• The Legacy: He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1975.

Stymie proved that a “cheap” horse isn’t a bad horse—it’s just a horse waiting for the right trainer to find their key. Today, the Stymie Stakes is still run at Aqueduct to honor the claimer who conquered the world.

I might make the “Hall of Claim” a regular feature here at HorseClaiming.com. Let me know what you think. As I see it, has there ever been a better time to add a little variety to our lives?