Eric Reed: Overcoming The Odds

by: Michael Compton

While Rich Strike's triumph in the 148th Kentucky Derby (G1) at odds of 80-1 seemed improbable to many, for trainer Eric Reed the stunning victory was a testament to decades of staying the course, overcoming obstacles, and trusting in the gifts of his trade. Also key for Reed and his team was a spectacular willingness to succeed despite the odds.

Less than six years removed from a tragic barn fire at his Mercury Training Center in Lexington that killed 23 horses, Reed and his crew not only recovered from that unimaginable tragedy but accomplished an extraordinary achievement, writing their names in racing lore forever alongside their Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike, the second-longest shot in Derby history.

"...when he got to the head of the stretch, all the pressure left me, and I knew he wasn't going to slow down."

"It is something I can't really put into words; I've tried," said Reed, a Kentucky native. "When he got to the head of the stretch, I was just relieved he was going to run well because we were made fun of. People didn't think he belonged... I just think when he got to the head of the stretch, all the pressure left me, and I knew he wasn't going to slow down. I didn't have any idea what he was getting ready to do because it was still early, but when he went around Messier, I knew he was going to hit the board. I told my dad, "He's going to hit the board.'

"He was just running so fast I wasn't even watching the two horses (in front). I didn't even know who they were," Reed remembered. "I didn't have any idea of the two horses in front of me. I really wasn't watching them too much. I was just watching 'Richie' to make sure nobody was going to sneak up on him. And out of nowhere, he collars them, and he goes by. I mean, that's a feeling I can't describe. It was like I went into a zone, and I wasn't even there, so to speak. I never saw him cross the finish line because I kind of collapsed. I don't know if it was because we were holding our breath or yelling, or what happened. I've never had that feeling again. I get goosebumps right now when I think about it. It was something else."

Reed, who has trained horses since 1983, is quick to credit his team at the barn for Rich Strike's success and acknowledges that recording the win of a lifetime means more to him because of all the people that were instrumental in his life and his career as a trainer rather than the attention and praise he has received in the aftermath of winning the world's most famous horse race.

"It means everything because as of six years ago I didn't think I could even train a horse again and didn't want to for a few days in self-pity and anger, (over) all the things that happened," Reed admitted. "I think it helps us what we went through back then because we started appreciating the little things again once we got back. We always loved our horses, but things that would bother us badly, we've grown to realize that nothing's as bad as you think it is because that night nothing could have been worse.

"I think it helps us, what we went through back then, because we started appreciating the little things again once we got back."

"To end up in our home state of Kentucky with my dad at my side and my wife (Kay) and my daughter, my help that had been here through the bad times—those guys that are here now were all here then—it was like the Lord came out and gave us the greatest gift of all time and we appreciate it so much that I still don't know, truthfully, what I've done. I realize it, but for some reason, it hasn't sunk in."

In the rare quiet moments since Kentucky Derby 148, Reed catches up on what has been shared and written about this year's Derby winner and his human connections. One particular video summons tears from the veteran conditioner who has spent a lifetime training horses away from the limelight of Triple Crown races.

"There is a video of my daughter, Shelby, and she was crying, just so elated after the race, and I hadn't seen that," Reed said. "It was like three or four days after when I saw it. That was the first time that I shed a lot of tears. I know the emotions and how much it affected everybody. This is for the little guys that have just regular horses and not these million-dollar horses in every barn. A lot of us dream of the opportunity but never get it."

Being raised in Lexington, Reed knew early on what he wanted to do with his life. Introduced to the equine industry as a boy by his father, Herbie Reed, Eric has had a one-track mind ever since.

"My dad trained horses since he was old enough to get a trainer's license," Reed shared. "He was galloping horses at 14. He galloped for Doug Davis in Versailles. My dad was orphaned, and he was raised by two or three nice families when he grew up. He went to Keeneland one day and saw a guy galloping horses and realized there is a lot of money to be made doing something that looked fun, and he walked over to that farm and told them he knew how to ride. He told them a story. And the guy took him in and taught him how, and he became a rider at that point at 14.

"I couldn't name all the people that helped me along the way."

"When I hung out with my dad when I was six or seven years old on the weekends, I loved the horses, and I got to watch how much people respected my dad. So, as a kid growing up, you always want to be like your dad. By the time I was 12 and I had gone to the races all summer long, that's when I know it was what I wanted to do. I worked with my dad most of my career and Ray Lawrence was a big influence on my life. I got to spend time with Ray in his barn. There are so many trainers around Lexington because I grew up on the track and I told them all by the time I was 12 that I was going to train. They all would pull me aside and try to teach me things. I couldn't name all the people that helped me along the way."

Reed's first big horse was Kentucky-bred Native Drummer, who won the 1986 Forego Stakes at Latonia and captured 14 wins during his racing career. He also trained Satan's Quick Chick, winner of the 2009 Raven Run Stakes (G2) at Keeneland.

"Our stable had picked up steam at that point (with Native Drummer). We were still small but getting quite a few horses and it seemed like we were getting better clients and better horses as that goes," Reed said. "And then Bill Floyd at Fairway Farm gave me my first real good bunch of horses to train, and I think it kind of took off at that point, but it was a long ride after Mr. Floyd until I got with (owner) Jerry Jamgotchian, and that's when the tide really turned for the better."

"... it was a long ride after Mr. Floyd until I got with (owner) Jerry Jamgotchian, and that's when the tide really turned for the better."

With his strong Kentucky roots, Reed is especially prideful of the fact that this year's Kentucky-bred Derby winner represents the Bluegrass of Kentucky through and through.

"Kentucky is horse country," said Reed who resides in Versailles. "Year-round it's horse country. I've always longed to be back at home when I was in California training, New York training. I would go to Oaklawn for the winters. I couldn't wait to get back home. There's just something about Kentucky and horses, the change of seasons, the green pastures, the lovely weather in the spring, and the crazy weather in the spring, all those things that we go through here. This is horse country. There's nowhere you can go without driving by and seeing a horse in a field somewhere. It just makes you feel like it's where you belong.

"This is horse country. There's nowhere you can go without driving by and seeing a horse in a field somewhere. It just makes you feel like it's where you belong."

"Now, with the purse structure, and all the things that are happening in Kentucky, it's the place everyone wants to be," he added. "I'm living the dream in a lot of different ways being here…You look at Kentucky and we're running maidens for $100,000 and it's just beginning. I don't think anyone has any idea how high this is going to go or how good it's going to get. And it's made a lot of guys like me be able to afford to train horses. We're getting better clients and we are where we always wanted to be, and we didn't have to leave home to get there."

Reed may still be getting his arms around the weight of the accomplishment of training a Kentucky Derby winner, but he credits Rich Strike with changing his life. In truth, Reed and owner Rick Dawson also deserve a lion's share of credit for the horse's unlikely path to Derby glory.

"He is a dream come true that's for sure," Reed declared of Rich Strike. "He's just like a living miracle. We had a client that was trying to rebuild a stable and he wanted to do it with some horses running and then maybe get some yearlings the following year. So, we decided we were going to claim some 2-year-olds just hoping to get one worth what we were paying for, really. If we got anything better, that was great. We actually had picked another horse in Rich Strike's race to claim, and we had decided we were going to take that horse. Then that night—you always want to save your conditions if you can, and it was a maiden—I was wondering if there is anybody else in here that can beat him, and I kept coming up with Rick Strike on the form…They ran him in a maiden special weight, and he got bet on. He had these great works, and I kept looking; why did he finish last? I noticed that the race was on the turf and that was the only thing that looked out of whack to me."

"He is a dream come true that's for sure. He's just like a living miracle."

"It was just a hunch, a gut play that if the turf made him run poorly that he might run real good in that maiden race and he might beat the horse we're going to claim," Reed said. "I called Rick and told him, and he said, 'Well, maybe we claim him, too. But what if he doesn't like the dirt?' I said, 'He wouldn't be working that good in my opinion before his first race, but anything you claim is going to be a what-if.' He said, 'Let's do it.' "Man, did we make a good claim or what?"

Claiming Rich Strike in his second career start in September of his juvenile season will likely be remembered as one of the most fruitful claims in history. Rich Strike won the $30,000 maiden claiming race at Churchill Downs by 17 ¼ lengths for trainer Joe Sharp and owner-breeder Calumet Farm and was promptly claimed by Reed and Dawson's RED R-Racing, LLC. The rest is history.

While Reed and his team adjust to all the attention the barn has received since the Kentucky Derby, Rich Strike continues preparations for the June 11 Belmont Stakes (G1). He turned in his final serious work ahead of the 1 ½-mile "Test of a Champion" on Monday, May 30, at Churchill Downs, breezing five furlongs in a snappy :59. Rich Strike shipped to New York following the work and arrived at Belmont Park early Wednesday morning.

"He is a dream come true that's for sure. He's just like a living miracle."

"Truthfully, after the barn fire six years ago, it put me in a place that I had never been because I thought I'd reached the top of my career," Reed said. "The place was full. We had three barns full of good horses and good clients. I didn't even think it could get better. And then something like that happens and you get the call that the barn is on fire, and you lose 23 horses. It's complete chaos, and the next day the sun comes up and you see the remains of what went on the night before in the dark when all you could see is the flames and hear the screaming of the horses and the craziness that we were doing trying to get them out of the barn. The next morning was even worse, but it changes you in a lot of ways. You see kindness and love from people that you've never even met. All those things are a positive from the worst negative that you can have. I keep telling people, ‘You never can give up,' because I had given up. And I know how some people get and that's it, and that's how I felt. But the kindness and the love, and a little prayer, a lot of things got me through it.

"The first horse that went to this track after the barn fire, the fire came right back to me to train horses again," Reed added. "I knew I still had that desire, and I thought I lost it."

"The first horse that went to this track after the barn fire, the fire came right back to me to train horses again"

The fire clearly continues to burn bright in Reed, and while it remains to be seen whether Rich Strike can duplicate his Derby-winning performance and continue his magical run in the 154th renewal of the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes, anything can happen in a horse race and in life.

No one knows that better than Eric Reed.