Now the newcomers intend to take Wealthy Strike to Baltimore for the Preakness Stakes on Could 21 to race within the second jewel of the Triple Crown. They, together with the horse’s proprietor, Rick Dawson, have a possibility to reboot a sport battered by a disqualified Derby winner in 2021 and by suspended trainers, doping convictions and useless horses.
“We certain want it,” mentioned Reed, 57, referring to the increase Wealthy Strike has given racing. “And right here we’re, some little guys who may also help the game. We confirmed that we are able to make this stuff occur with some luck, onerous work and doing issues the appropriate method.”
Reed has needed to stand tall earlier than. He discovered his craft from his father, Herbert, a former coach, who stayed by his son’s aspect for the whole Derby expertise.
“He’s been going to the monitor with me since he was 6 years previous, and that’s no bull,” Herbert Reed mentioned. “He would go daily. And when he was 8, he might put a spider bandage on a horse, and most of the people don’t even know what it’s anymore.”
When Eric Reed informed his father he needed to skip faculty to coach horses, Herbert Reed was comfortable that he had discovered one thing he beloved to do.
“My dad gave me two horses and mentioned, ‘You wish to be a coach?’” Eric Reed recalled. “‘Right here’s two horses. You’re a coach.’”
Greater than 9,000 races and 1,445 victories later, principally racked up on the backwater tracks of Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana and Kentucky, Reed’s horses have earned greater than $24 million in purses. The $1.8 million first-place test for profitable the Derby was a windfall, however not sufficient to present Reed a lifetime of ease. This week, he’ll saddle horses at Horseshoe Indianapolis, Mountaineer in West Virginia and Belterra.
