It was the first Kentucky Derby victory for his trainer Eric Reed, as well as the first graded stakes win in any race for his jockey Sonny Leon.

[5] The field is limited to the top 20 horses on the 2022 Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard; these points are distributed to the top-four finishers in designated races.

[7] In 2022, the main Road to the Kentucky Derby consisted of 36 races in North America plus one in Dubai, taking place between September 18, 2021, and April 16, 2022.

[9] This rule was put into place as part of a larger series of sanctions against Baffert, whose 2021 Kentucky Derby runner Medina Spirit finished first but was subsequently disqualified after testing positive for betamethasone.

[10][11] In response, owners of several Baffert-trained Derby contenders transferred them to trainers Tim Yakteen and Rodolphe Brisset.

[16] On April 9, the final day of major preps, Mo Donegal won the Wood Memorial, Zandon the Blue Grass, and Taiba the Santa Anita Derby.

[19] The field for the 2022 Kentucky Derby was considered to be one of the most competitive in recent memory, with no clear favorite in the weeks leading up to the race.

He was 14th in qualification with 40 points and entered the race with a 3–3–0 record in six starts, including a second-place finish in the Santa Anita Derby.

[32] If any of the 20 Derby entries is withdrawn from the race before betting begins, the next-highest ranked horse on the leaderboard draws into their place.

[35] Predicted rain and thunderstorms in Louisville, Kentucky suggested that the Derby could be raced in muddy or sloppy conditions.

By the time horses reached the post, the weather at Churchill Downs was 62 °F (17 °C) with cloudy skies and 10 mph (16 km/h) winds.

[6] Summer is Tomorrow took an early lead out of the gates, setting a Derby record by running the first quarter-mile in 21.78 seconds.

Rich Strike moved to the rail, weaved around a tiring Messier and closed steadily in the final furlong to win the race with a time of 2:02.61.

[46][47] It was the first Kentucky Derby victory for trainer Eric Reed,[48] as well as the first graded stakes win of any kind for jockey Sonny Leon.

[51] Dawson and Reed told reporters that the decision was made to give Rich Strike time to recover from his "tremendous effort" in the Derby.