LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike had his first workout since finishing fourth in the Aug. 27 Travers at Saratoga when going five furlongs Tuesday in 1:02.40 at the Mercury training center of trainer Eric Reed. “He skipped right across there,” said Reed. “He’s real fresh right now, doing really well. He came out of the Travers super good.” The Grade 2, $400,000 Lukas Classic on Oct. 1 at Churchill remains the target for Rich Strike, even with officials from Parx Racing pleading with Reed to bring the stretch-running colt to the Grade 1, $1 million Pennsylvania Derby on Sept. 24. Bonuses of $50,000 will be paid to both the owner and trainer of any Pennsylvania Derby starter that has won a Triple Crown race or the Haskell or Travers. Taiba looks like a clear-cut favorite in a short field of 3-year-olds at Parx, where entries for the track’s marquee date will be drawn Monday. The Lukas Classic is expected to get Hot Rod Charlie and other accomplished older horses. Both races are 1 1/8 miles. :: DRF Bets members get FREE DRF Past Performances - Formulator or Classic. Join now! “I’ve thought and thought about going to Parx, but I just can’t make it work with the travel,” said Reed. “I’d rather go there than run against Hot Rod Charlie, but I don’t have much choice. The timing and the travel are what makes it so difficult. Maybe if the Parx race had been another week or so later we could’ve swung it, but there’s just no way.” * Trainer Jeff Hiles entered the Churchill meet with his stable having posted an eye-catching ROI of $4.12 (for every $2 win bet) in 2022. Several of his 17 wins (from 96 starts) have resulted in big mutuels, including those by Rogue Element and Natural Power. “We’re humming right along,” said Brook Smith, the Louisville-area philanthropist whose Rocket Ship Racing is Hiles’s main client. * Edgard Zayas has two mounts Friday at Churchill after riding most of the Kentucky Downs meet, but the 28-year-old jockey remains a regular at Gulfstream Park in Florida, where he has numerous calls Saturday and Sunday. “Unless there’s a stake that we can ride, we’ll be back in Kentucky, but otherwise we’ll be at Gulfstream,” said his agent, Tito Fuentes.