its a very rare to get this chance...and to just skip it is more rare...
Yes -— I was surprised. I wonder why.
Rich Strike was back in the pack in Kentucky until the end. That is a relatively long race at a 1/4 miles, and his trainer I believe already said that he does best in longer runs. The Preakness is a little shorter at 1 3/16ths and then Belmont is really long at 1 1/2 miles. So it may also make sense to skip the shorter race in the middle that they think he’s unlikely to win and focus on the longer third run, where they probably expect him to cruise again.