Bonus: Longshot

[00:00:00] This is BewilderBeasts, an infotainment show dedicated to inspiring curiosity for all ages

[00:00:13] by investigating the ways animals intersect at humanity.

[00:00:17] I am not a historian, an ethologist, a researcher, a scientist, a zoologist, a trained audio

[00:00:23] engineer or an expert in, well, anything.

[00:00:26] Y'all, I'm lucky if I can remember to put my clean laundry in the dryer before it gets funky.

[00:00:31] And while I make every effort to present things as accurately as I can with a fun flair,

[00:00:36] I'm going to mess up.

[00:00:37] And that's okay.

[00:00:38] I hope I've given you a nice place to jump off from on your own adventures into curiosity.

[00:00:42] Or at the very least, I've given you the key to win your next round of trivia.

[00:00:56] Hello and welcome to BewilderBeasts.

[00:01:10] This is a Patreon exclusive.

[00:01:12] I'm your host, Melissa McHumigrath.

[00:01:13] But you already knew that.

[00:01:15] It'd be really weird if you were supporting the show and had no idea what was going on.

[00:01:20] Anyway, we're going back to the race track and we're talking about some long shots

[00:01:24] on the track.

[00:01:25] Are you ready?

[00:01:26] Let's do this.

[00:01:41] So this week we are back in the saddle as it were.

[00:01:44] The horse Rich Strike, the now famous long shot to win the Kentucky Derby a few weeks

[00:01:49] ago seems to have this in his blood.

[00:01:52] His dad, Keane Ice, was no stranger to upsetting the winners.

[00:01:57] He beat the Triple Crown winner American Pharaoh after he won the Triple Crown at

[00:02:01] Saratoga Springs.

[00:02:03] Rich Strike recently made headlines as he had 80-1 odds that he would win this race.

[00:02:09] That means the people betting thought that if this race were to happen 81 times,

[00:02:14] he would win 1.

[00:02:17] He would lose 80.

[00:02:20] No one thought this horse could win.

[00:02:22] No one.

[00:02:23] In fact, he only got into this race when a horse pulled out at the last second.

[00:02:27] Well in the last 10 minutes really.

[00:02:29] See, the Kentucky Derby can only have 20 horses at the race.

[00:02:33] There are only 20 gates to start.

[00:02:36] So the 21st horse is basically there just in case someone scratches or decides not

[00:02:41] to run at the last minute.

[00:02:42] The horses have until 9am on Friday to pull their horse and get an alternate.

[00:02:47] At 8.45am on Friday, the trainer of Rich Strike figured that he wasn't going to

[00:02:53] run this race.

[00:02:54] In fact, they were already on the phone making plans to have him run in New York,

[00:02:59] which for those playing the home game is not anywhere near Kentucky,

[00:03:04] where the Kentucky Derby is famously run.

[00:03:07] They had to move this horse across the country so he could race in another state

[00:03:12] that weekend.

[00:03:13] That's what this trainer was doing.

[00:03:15] Cell phone calls trying to figure this out with 15 minutes left to go,

[00:03:19] thinking that this horse was not going to run in the Kentucky Derby.

[00:03:22] At 8.55am, the trainer got a text.

[00:03:27] Do not move this horse.

[00:03:31] A couple minutes later, the official call came to his cell phone.

[00:03:34] A horse by the name of Ethereal Road had pulled out at the last possible second.

[00:03:40] This meant that Rich Strike got a place on the start line,

[00:03:44] but he was in the furthest gate, meaning that while all the horses technically run

[00:03:48] one and a quarter miles for this race,

[00:03:50] the further out from the first horse you are,

[00:03:52] the further you have to run to finish.

[00:03:56] Rich Strike had the longest distance to cover in this race,

[00:04:00] but he was in the freaking Kentucky Derby, y'all.

[00:04:03] That's awesome.

[00:04:04] And with every possible thing to work,

[00:04:07] depending on how you look at it, for him or against him,

[00:04:11] he was about to win this race.

[00:04:14] The analogy often used in most of the write-ups was to think of horses like race cars.

[00:04:20] Cars need gas to go, and the faster you go, the more gas you use in that time.

[00:04:25] The same with a horse's energy.

[00:04:27] They only have so much gas to give, and how you use it is part of the game.

[00:04:32] According to the Denver Post, summer is tomorrow,

[00:04:36] which I hope comes really soon because I'm freezing,

[00:04:39] but summer is tomorrow is actually a horse in this case.

[00:04:43] And summer is tomorrow was the leader after a quarter of a mile, or two furlongs.

[00:04:48] I don't know how this works.

[00:04:50] I didn't look it up.

[00:04:52] But two furlongs is a quarter of a mile,

[00:04:54] and he covered that distance in 21.78 seconds.

[00:04:57] He covered those two furlongs in the fastest time ever in Kentucky Derby history.

[00:05:04] No horse can sustain that pace for one and a quarter miles.

[00:05:09] Think about running as fast as you can go around a track at your high school,

[00:05:15] or at your track and field race.

[00:05:17] You run that as fast as you can possibly go.

[00:05:19] You're sprinting.

[00:05:20] You run one of those laps.

[00:05:23] But in order to do a mile, you have to do four.

[00:05:26] There is no way you can sprint unless you're some crazy, awesome, fast distance runner.

[00:05:34] You can't sprint that far that fast.

[00:05:36] And as a result, summer is tomorrow wound up finishing dead last in the 20 horse field.

[00:05:44] 64 and a half lengths behind Rich Strike.

[00:05:49] It wasn't just summer is tomorrow though.

[00:05:51] Many of the horses went out at a blistering pace

[00:05:54] because so many trainers and jockeys have decided their best move

[00:05:58] was to get as close to the lead for the opening portion of this race.

[00:06:02] The biggest indicator that this was going to be a wild finish

[00:06:06] actually came when the track announcer Larry Kalmas

[00:06:10] briefly stopped announcing the race at the half mile mark.

[00:06:15] The opening half mile was, whoa, blazing fast, 45.36 seconds, he said, famously now.

[00:06:22] Famously because this horse went on to win the freaking Kentucky Derby.

[00:06:25] Those fuel tanks and those other horses were emptying far, far away.

[00:06:29] And those other horses were emptying far faster than anyone expected.

[00:06:34] So at the half a mile mark, Rich Strike was ahead of only two horses.

[00:06:39] He was in 18th place.

[00:06:41] But then something happened at that half mile mark.

[00:06:44] Rich Strike's way of running is to get faster as the race goes on.

[00:06:49] His record has him starting far back in all his races but finishing strong.

[00:06:54] And the people betting on these horses did not see that trend.

[00:06:58] Because he wasn't a winning horse, but his trainer knew and his owner knew.

[00:07:03] And that's all that mattered.

[00:07:05] In his last five races, Rich Strike went from sixth place to third,

[00:07:10] seventh to fifth, eighth to third, eleventh to fourth, and then again, eleventh to third.

[00:07:17] Rich Strike loves to take his time and zoom through at the last minute.

[00:07:22] It's his thing.

[00:07:25] It's also his thing to win with flair.

[00:07:29] The single win he had coming in was by 17 and a half lengths.

[00:07:35] A length is the length of a horse running, so about eight to nine feet.

[00:07:40] Plus how many more horses can fit in between the tip of that blazing fast tail

[00:07:45] to the tip of the next horse's nose.

[00:07:47] In this case, 17 and a half horses.

[00:07:50] That's about 140 feet.

[00:07:53] That is three and a half Brachiosauruses, four telephone poles,

[00:07:57] laying the long way, not the short way.

[00:08:01] Five London buses.

[00:08:04] That is a huge win.

[00:08:06] That was his only other win other than the Kentucky Derby.

[00:08:12] So when he wins, he wins with style.

[00:08:16] So while all of these other riders were desperately trying to keep a break neck

[00:08:21] pace and keep up with summer is tomorrow, which might actually be the next James Bond movie title,

[00:08:27] they all burned out of gas.

[00:08:30] Some could not keep going and Rich Strike was like,

[00:08:33] Oh, hey guys, I'm just gonna pass by you here and you and you too and

[00:08:38] oh, the Ponymas Monk, House of Wife and Kids, Twilight Sparklebutt,

[00:08:42] you can scooch to the left.

[00:08:44] I got places to be like the finish line.

[00:08:46] The announcer didn't even see Rich Strike because if there's a horse in the Kentucky Derby with 80 to 1 odds,

[00:08:52] you're probably not watching him.

[00:08:55] He was on the outside of everyone in 18th place for most of this race,

[00:08:59] sneaking up on the inside rail passing horses who basically stopped running.

[00:09:04] You might not believe what you're seeing either.

[00:09:06] And if you get a chance to watch this incredible run, which I hope you do,

[00:09:11] I encourage you all to go and watch this incredible run from the overhead.

[00:09:14] NBc on Twitter has a great aerial view.

[00:09:18] Watch it again and again and again.

[00:09:22] And knowing that this horse started at the very back of the group on the outside,

[00:09:26] he had the furthest to run.

[00:09:28] He had the longest of long shots.

[00:09:29] And in fact, if you watch the television side view,

[00:09:32] you lose him completely for more than 80 seconds.

[00:09:36] You do not see this horse.

[00:09:38] You do not see number 21, Rich Strike in frame.

[00:09:42] Until after the announcer struggling to keep up because the horses are going too fast at the first turn,

[00:09:51] he cannot believe that they ran that far that fast in about 45.36 seconds.

[00:09:58] So put it this way, when the announcer is impressed, it's impressive y'all.

[00:10:04] So when watching the overhead view, there's this cool graphic arrow over Rich Strike who is

[00:10:10] at the back as expected, as he was supposed to be.

[00:10:14] And he was just a placeholder.

[00:10:16] Truly no one expected this horse to do the big things aside from his trainer and his owner and his jockey.

[00:10:21] He's nearly trapped in the back.

[00:10:24] The leaders are racing towards the right side of the screen,

[00:10:27] getting further and further and further away until they don't.

[00:10:30] And Rich Strike passes a horse in the middle and then another.

[00:10:34] And then there's a moment where it appears that he's stuck.

[00:10:36] He's sandwiched between horses like two horse-sized graham crackers

[00:10:39] squishing the marshmallow chocolate goodness that's a s'more.

[00:10:42] But then he parts them like Moses did the sea.

[00:10:47] And when they part, gaps open, pockets open, and Rich Strike opens his stride completely.

[00:10:52] He knows what to do with a pocket.

[00:10:55] And here's the best part.

[00:10:57] Even knowing what you know now, even knowing that three weeks ago this horse was all over

[00:11:02] the news for being one of the longest long shots in history, but not the longest,

[00:11:05] we will get to it.

[00:11:06] I won't speak for you, but I will speak for me.

[00:11:08] Even knowing this longest of long shots was going to win, I couldn't fathom how.

[00:11:13] He was too far back.

[00:11:15] There's no way.

[00:11:16] The finish line was fast approaching and yet he just got faster and faster while

[00:11:21] it appeared that everyone around him just slowed and some stopped running completely.

[00:11:26] I mean yes they were all still technically running their horses and believe me even

[00:11:29] at a slow run a horse is pretty dang fast, but Rich Strike was truly fast.

[00:11:35] So fast at the last 15 or so steps or strides of the race, the announcer was so focused on

[00:11:41] the other two horses at the front he didn't even see Rich Strike coming until he was

[00:11:46] five strides from the finish line.

[00:11:49] No one saw him coming.

[00:11:51] Not the crowd, not the announcer certainly.

[00:11:54] Not the bookies, not the ladies in big hats with mint juleps because it's a Kentucky

[00:11:57] Derby.

[00:11:58] Not the kids watching TV.

[00:12:00] Though I'd like to think if I was watching this as a younger me I'd pick

[00:12:03] him just for the story with no actual money on the race because I was a kid.

[00:12:07] I loved the story of the horse that was plucked 30 seconds before the deadline

[00:12:12] who had the last post, who had number 21 an alternate number despite having 20 gates

[00:12:18] for the starting line.

[00:12:19] Young me would have been all over this horse.

[00:12:22] Rich Strike's story was a story I would have absolutely globed onto as a kid watching

[00:12:27] the 17 hours of pre-race coverage and he would have been my favorite for sure.

[00:12:33] And the people were long shots too.

[00:12:35] Not just this horse, a horse that cost way more than any car that I would ever own but

[00:12:40] absolutely significantly less expensive than a horse who belongs to those with deeper

[00:12:45] pockets.

[00:12:47] Six years ago Ed Reed, Rich Strike's owner, drove home to see his barn on

[00:12:52] fire.

[00:12:54] 23 horses died that day.

[00:12:57] But the good news is in this horrible story is that the wind was blowing the right way.

[00:13:04] And that did not ignite the other two barns.

[00:13:07] Ed nearly bailed completely on horse training and racing at that point because what is

[00:13:12] the point?

[00:13:13] But he stuck with it after those deeper pocketed owners, even after those deeper

[00:13:18] pocketed horse owners with the high price trainers and the barns that had not caught

[00:13:23] on fire had reached out and helped him rebuild.

[00:13:26] Then when it was time to get points towards the Kentucky Derby, he needed to be in

[00:13:30] the top 20 and he was 21.

[00:13:33] The big name guys, the media, the guy at the mechanic, everyone told him hey you

[00:13:37] should just pack up and go home.

[00:13:39] But Ed Reed didn't.

[00:13:40] He stuck around even with 15 minutes left before the deadline his number still

[00:13:45] wasn't called.

[00:13:46] The security guard that was assigned to them was relieved of duty and yet Ed Reed

[00:13:51] stuck it out for the last remaining minutes of the deadline.

[00:13:56] Everyone counted them out except them.

[00:14:00] This horse, this owner, this trainer, this rider.

[00:14:04] They all stood until 10 minutes before the deadline and that's when Mr. Reed's

[00:14:08] phone rang, said don't go anywhere.

[00:14:11] Minutes later 30 seconds left before the jig was up, the jig still jigged.

[00:14:16] They were in the race when Ethereal rode.

[00:14:18] A horse who also was in the Kentucky Derby because other horses scratched from

[00:14:23] the lineup was also scratched from the lineup.

[00:14:27] Ethereal Rhodes trainer, sorry, Hall of Fame trainer D.

[00:14:32] Wayne Lucas.

[00:14:33] That's the letter D, the name Wayne, then Lucas not Dwayne or Dwayne who's a

[00:14:42] Dutch DJ I guess or D.

[00:14:44] Wayne Wade, the basketball player.

[00:14:46] This D.

[00:14:46] Wayne Lucas did not like how Ethereal Road was running in warmup so he

[00:14:51] just pulled him from the race.

[00:14:53] Had that not happened before 9 a.m.

[00:14:55] the day before or even 30 seconds before Ed Reed got that call, we would be

[00:15:00] talking about something else completely like how fake poop helps owls thrive or

[00:15:04] how there's a museum for dachshunds or driving goldfish which are all in

[00:15:10] my list and we should get to all of those at some point but those stories

[00:15:15] to me at least are not just as exciting as this horse and his epic run

[00:15:20] leading up to the third race of the Triple Crown and that's still not even

[00:15:26] the longest of long shots.

[00:15:29] In the Kentucky Derby, long before we had aerial video or even a starting

[00:15:32] gate just tape on the ground, we had Donarail in 1913.

[00:15:38] Donarail could not be stabled at Churchill Downs where the race was

[00:15:42] being held and instead due to overcrowding he had to walk three miles

[00:15:47] from where he could find a stall to the race.

[00:15:50] He had to walk further than the race to get to the race in order to race

[00:15:56] and with odds at 91 to 1, he won that race and that's not even

[00:16:04] the longest of long shots.

[00:16:05] 206 to 1 odds against RB Wild Promise.

[00:16:11] That horse earned people who bet $2, a total of $415 when he won.

[00:16:19] Not too shabby for two minutes of work sitting in your seat and then

[00:16:22] jumping up in disbelief and then screaming your fool head off while

[00:16:24] hugging a total stranger.

[00:16:27] In fact, this horse was such a long shot the scoreboardy thing on the

[00:16:30] field could only show him at 99 to 1 odds because their board did not

[00:16:34] go up to three digits.

[00:16:36] According to ESPN, 23-year-old Gwendolyn Crosser took ownership of RB Wild Promise who

[00:16:46] I sincerely hope has a cooler barn name but I can't think of anything

[00:16:50] other than maybe Ribby or Prommy.

[00:16:53] Those aren't exactly working for me.

[00:16:54] I don't know what he's called in the barn.

[00:16:57] His former owner decided to just get rid of him and that's how

[00:17:01] she ended up with him.

[00:17:02] She told ESPN that his former owner didn't like him very much and that he

[00:17:06] didn't run well when other horses kicked dirt in his face.

[00:17:09] He was able to win this race because he was able to stay pretty clean.

[00:17:17] This is my favorite part.

[00:17:19] You know the horse and races where there are people on horseback

[00:17:22] walking with the jockey on the big fancy expensive horse getting

[00:17:24] ready to run races like the Kentucky Derby?

[00:17:27] That's Gwendolyn's job and she was able to ride the pony escort.

[00:17:32] I'm sure there's a better name for it alongside her race horse.

[00:17:36] Her race horse that was racing in this race when he went to the starting gate.

[00:17:41] She wasn't even able to watch the race because she was working.

[00:17:45] That is a very different story than you usually see in these big fancy races where

[00:17:49] the owners and the trainers and everyone who has ever touched or looked at this horse

[00:17:53] except for the grooms and the stable folk are on the screen in floppy hats and nice suits.

[00:17:58] The Gwendolins are more common and I love her story.

[00:18:03] Gwendolyn was ID'd because she didn't look old enough to cash her bet that she put on her own

[00:18:10] horse. As RB's owner, she earned $8,600 for winning which comes to about $5,000 after fees

[00:18:19] and taxes and all that jazz. She bet $5 on her own horse too which netted her another $1,300.

[00:18:28] So combined that's about what $6,000? All of it went to feeding and boarding him for a couple

[00:18:35] of months. Remember that kiddos when you say you want a pony? $6,000 for a couple of months.

[00:18:44] Months of food and shelter. And that's still not the longest of long shots.

[00:18:51] The longest long shot that I could find was on YouTube so take it with a grain of salt.

[00:19:00] Sal's Needle, a 341.70 to 1 odds did the unbelievable but I bet you'll believe it if

[00:19:08] you've been listening for the last 20 minutes or read the title of today's show. Sal's Needle

[00:19:13] was beaten by an average of 35 lengths meaning you could fit 35 horses between him and the

[00:19:19] first place horse at the time of their win. That's so many horses.

[00:19:26] There was no way he could do what he was about to do but you know what he did. I already told

[00:19:33] you, he freaking won. According to punters.com, quote, Sal's Needle is surely one of the few

[00:19:41] times at a 345 to 1 odds has in fact represented massive massive unders given his form prior

[00:19:48] could only be described as end quote. He used all of his energy to essentially troll the whole

[00:19:56] racing world in this one epic race, laughing all the way to the bank and then realized,

[00:20:01] I don't actually mind getting dirty. I'm a fan of the back of the pack. And he immediately

[00:20:05] went back to losing for his next 11 starts at the gate. And the thing about upsets and why

[00:20:14] I want this out before Rich Strikes Run at the Belmont Stakes next week, June 11 2022 if anyone

[00:20:21] is going to watch live is that once you upset the lineup, you are no longer the underdog but

[00:20:27] the one to beat the one everyone has their eyes on. No one was watching Rich Strike warm

[00:20:33] up prior to the Kentucky Derby. But unless you really are into horse racing, the likelihood

[00:20:38] that you've seen any other name associated with this race coming up is slim. All the cameras are

[00:20:44] on the shiny new horse, the one who beat the favorites in the second longest shot to ever

[00:20:48] win the Kentucky Derby. And I want this out in the lead up to that Belmont Stakes race.

[00:20:56] I have no idea if he can replicate what he did. I do applaud his trainers for looking at

[00:21:01] this horse first and his health first and not pushing him to race the second race in the

[00:21:05] Triple Crown. The plan was always to run Kentucky and then Belmont, and adding a third race in

[00:21:11] between just for the crown seemed risky enough to the owners to not enter him and to let him

[00:21:17] have the full five week break, not get greedy for a crown, and I applaud that call with all

[00:21:24] of my being. Whether Rich Strike wins or he loses or he scratches or something else entirely

[00:21:31] wacky happens between now and Saturday, in this moment, in the anticipation and the appreciation

[00:21:37] for the long shots will be preserved. And personally? I like it here in the place before

[00:21:44] the upset is proven to be a sure thing. The diamond in the rough or a fluke. I don't

[00:21:50] personally care either way. I am not invested. I'm not betting on horses or anything, but

[00:21:56] I do like the story. And I like this feeling right now, not knowing how it ends just yet.

[00:22:13] Alright patrons, thanks for listening and supporting. I hope you all have a great summer.

[00:22:17] Watch the Patreon feed for a few extra things all summer. I'll post the horse races mentioned

[00:22:22] here as content and a few other things all summer as I do your episodes. And if you have

[00:22:27] an idea that you'd like me to explore this summer, please let me know. I'm planning on

[00:22:31] doing a recording with Paul Chobo, the creator of Varmint who I've mentioned here before.

[00:22:34] He's got a new show on piratey things. It's not up yet, but you can subscribe. It's called

[00:22:41] Avast and it'll pop up in your feed and it's not going to be on a regular schedule. It seems

[00:22:45] like it's going to be really fun. I heard the intro already and we've gone back and forth

[00:22:49] on a couple of the things. I'm very excited to see what he's going to be doing with it. So

[00:22:53] it sounds like it's going to be fun. So if you guys are looking for a new show just to kind of

[00:22:57] start to subscribe to, that might be one for you. Avast on all of your podcasty things.

[00:23:05] But we are planning on watching a dog show this summer. I think it's in July and we're

[00:23:10] going to record it best in show style. He knows nothing about dog shows and I know a lot

[00:23:16] to get stupidly passionate and very angry about a lot of things at dog shows. So it will hopefully

[00:23:21] be informative and really funny and you'll learn some things. It may or may not be appropriate

[00:23:29] for all ears. So if that's the case, I will find a different place to post it, but I will

[00:23:33] let you guys know so you can hear it if it's appropriate for you and that way you can have a

[00:23:37] little bit more latitude as to what your littles are listening to. But yeah, I will keep you

[00:23:41] guys posted about that. Either way, it's going to be fun and it's going to be funny. I just want

[00:23:45] to make sure that it's going to be appropriate for all of my patrons. And if it's not, I will

[00:23:50] find a place to put it where it's got a little bit more of a lockdown. So just a heads up on

[00:23:56] that. So I think that's it from me for now. So until next time, go get curious. I got

[00:24:01] today's information from Wikipedia on Rich Strike, edge.twinspires.com, theathletic.com,

[00:24:09] Wikipedia on DonnaRail, espn.com, on RB Wild Promise and YouTube on watching that crazy

[00:24:19] 341 to one odds horse, 345 to one. And please tell your friends this summer,

[00:24:28] what is your favorite episode? Cowbutt eyeballs? Seeing eye dogs? Catbutt science?

[00:24:35] What about the horse who gave us the FDA or Emily Spinach? Go to your favorite rating site of choice,

[00:24:41] social media, say what you think about your favorite episode, share it with people.

[00:24:44] It's so helpful and it's easy. And it helps me see what people dig, what you like,

[00:24:50] what you don't like, all that stuff. And as always from the infamous words of the

[00:24:54] squirrely Dan character of Letter Kenny, I appreciate yous. Intro and outro music is Tiptoe

[00:25:02] Out the Back by Dan Lebowitz, instrumental music by MK2 and additional music by Pixabay

[00:25:07] and freesound.org. Cannot thank you enough. Now go have a great day. Bye-bye.

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