Rich Strike won the 148th Kentucky Derby, beating favourites Epicenter and Taiba.

Favourite Epicenter finished second, while Zandon with 6-1 odds, finished third. Simplification, with odds of 35-1, finished fourth, maintaining the theme of underdog achievements in the 148th Kentucky Derby.

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With the victory, Rich Strike is now in contention to become only the 14th horse in the sport’s history to win a Triple Crown, with the season continuing at Preakness Stakes in Baltimore on May 21 and concluding at Belmont Stakes in New York on June 11.

Rich Strike, who entered the race on Friday, went into the race with odds of 80-1, the bottom among the 20 competing horses, as opposed to Epicenter and Taiba, whose odds of winning were 4-1 and 5-1 respectively.

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Rich Strike’s win, understandably, marked one of the biggest upsets in Kentucky Derby history, and saw the underdog and his jockey, Sonny Leon, take home $1.86 in prize money. Second-placed Epicentre took home $600,000, while third-placed Zandon won $300,000.

Commenting the second-biggest longshot win the Kentucky Derby history, Rich Strike’s trainer, Eric Reed, said, “I don’t know how, I fell down the paddock when he hit the wire. I about passed out. I’m so happy.”

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“This is something…y’know it’s the reason everybody does this, ’cause we’re not supposed to be here, but I knew this horse loved the track and he’d been training so good all year,” Reed added.

The record of the biggest longshot win in Kentucky Derby history, however, belongs to Donerail, who won the Derby in 1913 with odds of 91-1.