Trainer Eric Reed was still in slight shock May 6 after the 9 a.m. ET scratch time for the May 7 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) at Churchill Downs.
With the announcement of the withdrawal of Aaron Sones' and Julie Gilbert's Ethereal Road, trained by Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas, Reed found himself changing plans with RED T-R Racing's Rich Strike drawing in from the also-eligible list.
"They just got through informing me; we'd already made plans to work tomorrow and were going to head to the Peter Pan (Stakes, G3)," Reed said with a chuckle. "They're giving me CPR right now."
WATCH: Eric Reed on Making the Derby Field with Rich Strike
Third in the April 2 Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) on the synthetic track at Turfway Park, Rich Strike, a son of Keen Ice , has been training forwardly at Churchill.
"He's never been better; he loves this track," Reed said. "All week long, I was like, 'He just gets better every day.' He's so happy right now. It's just a blessing to be able to run."
It was an emotional morning for Reed, who said he was reflecting upon the memory of losing 23 horses in a barn fire in 2016.
"After that barn fire I thought I might never train again," he said. "You go from the worst of the worst to the best of the best in this business."
Reed was also thinking of his father, Herbert Reed, who trained for more than 40 years.
"He trained horses forever, trained a number of horses. He'd conditioned Master Derby, who won the Preakness. He sent him off to the other trainers. He wouldn't travel, because of the kids. He had plenty of chances to take those horses to race himself, and he turned them down. I owe all this to him; he's the only reason I'm a horse trainer."
Rich Strike galloped 1 1/2 miles Friday morning under Gabriel Lagunes. Sonny Leon will have the mount on the colt, who was claimed by Reed for $30,000 after winning a maiden race at Churchill going a mile in September by 17 1/4 lengths. Rich Strike ran in three stakes at Turfway this year.
"We ran him at Keeneland after we claimed him," Reed recalled. "He was the best horse that day, he got a really bad trip, very inexperienced. So I knew he had something. We went to New Orleans to try one of the first preps (the Gun Runner Stakes), ran into the monster Epicenter. He didn't get to train for a couple of days down there because of the weather and Christmas; the track was closed. In the paddock he was a monster and he's never like that. He didn't run terrible but he just wasn't himself.
"He came out of the race so good, and then we had to decide to travel or stay at home, and I thought it was best not to put all the miles on him and try to get the points at home since he handled the track at Turfway so good, and that's how we got here."
Ethereal Road, second in the Feb. 26 Rebel Stakes (G3) at Oaklawn Park, had been set to become Lukas' 50th Derby starter. He ran seventh in the April 9 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) and fourth when racing on a week's rest in the April 16 Stonestreet Lexington Stakes (G2) in two prior starts.
Lukas, who won Friday's Kentucky Oaks with Secret Oath, said he felt Ethereal Road had not shown the same energy over the last couple of days.
"I thought he was a little bit flat and I didn't think that he was moving as well," he said, noting a Derby start would "just be too many."
The Derby's second also eligible, Rattle N Roll, did not draw into the field and was scratched.
