By Keven Moore
Special to NKyTribune
It was six days after the Kentucky Derby when my high school classmate and neighborhood friend Eric Reed, a horse trainer, texted me asking if I wanted to come out to the Mercury Equine Center in Lexington to watch the 2022 Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike (Richie) train.
Of course, I wanted to catch a glimpse of this 80-1 longshot horse who made history and shocked the world. It was an amazing Cinderella story.
Eric Reed watching the workout.
The morning I arrived at the Mercury Equine Center, I found Eric perched upon his not-too-impressive, stilted office, leaning on the railing overlooking the training track as horses were training. The morning was your typical beautiful Spring morning in Kentucky, and the center was bustling with horses coming and going as they head off to get their workouts in.
I had watched Eric’s amazing story develop, as he would occasionally post training updates on social media. As Team Reed, a few of his close friends, and other horse owners that he trained for were all rooting for the impossible — just getting into the race.
Eric was nicknaming Rich Strike as Richie, and he never once indicated he had the horse that could win the Derby. He firmly believed that his horse was more than good enough to be in the race.
I watched his daily posts; about how good he was looking and how much he was improving every day. The one thing that stood out in his posts was that Richie was getting faster and faster. When they arrived at Churchill Downs, Richie was rated in 24th in a 20-horse race, and odds were more than stacked against Richie, Eric Reed, and owner Richard Dawson just getting into the race. When the horse Ethereal Road scratched at the last minute the day before the Derby, Richie was in but no one gave him an ounce of consideration.
Going to the track
Richie had only previously raced once in a field of 10 horses and finished dead last on grass before he was claimed for $30K at a Maiden claiming race at Churchill Downs with Eric and Richard looking on, as he won by a whopping 17 1/4 lengths.
They were there to possibly claim a different horse, but after Richie destroyed the field with just 232 before the Kentucky Derby, Eric set his sights on the Calumet farm-bred horse, after noticing that he hated racing on grass and preferred to get dirty in the dirt.
They knew that they had a good horse, but Richie still had not won another race until the Derby. He kept showing up and kept improving, earning points, and seizing the opportunity to get invited as an alternate, and he eventually moved up to the 21st that Monday before the Derby.
Most of the handicappers and television analysis didn’t even mention Richie’s name all day long as I watched the lead up to the Derby as if they had all written him off as a “Not A Prayer” coming from the 20th post position. Jockey Sonny Leon, the owner, and the trainer had never been invited to the big dance and had only previously experienced such big races either as a spectator or from their couches in their living rooms.
Like a high school prom, each had dreamed to someday be invited, only to eventually concede to going home to watch the TVRacing channel and drinking some Natty Lights. This time, they got a last-minute call to show up at the dance.
The workout
Such dreams never come true, right? Well … Yes They Do. Eric kept asking after the race if this was a dream, and he even texted me that question after I had sent a congratulatory text the following morning.
Eric told me that he had run out to buy a Derby suit the day before the race. Plus his team faced several curve balls including a call from Jockey Sonny Leon Friday morning. He was broken down on the side of the road on I-71 around Carrollton, just less than a couple of hours before he was scheduled to take Richie out for his final workout, while they were waiting to hear of scratches.
Sonny didn’t know where he was, but Eric and his friend Jack Willoughby, a horse owner, jumped into their vehicle and raced up the interstate. Luckily, they were able to find Sonny and get him back, with only two minutes to spare before his 7:25 a.m. mount time.
I had decided to rename Rich Strike as well to “OH MY GOD.” I had leaped several inches off my couch (I’m 58-years-old so) screaming OMG, OMG, OMG after I saw him break inside and then run down the other million-dollar horses. Even the announcer Larry Collmus was stunned and later called Eric to apologize for not picking up on Richie’s miraculous stretch run until the final three seconds. As he told Eric and in his defense, he was zeroed in on the two front runners with his binoculars and didn’t see Richie until he came into view as he went past them.
Eric doesn’t do this for the money but for the love of the horses. He has done well for himself and for decades he has been your blue-collar type of horse trainer, unknown to most Derby watchers. The fact is he wins often, 1,445 times to be exact. What is funny is that Eric Reed was so unknown to those once-a-year horse racing fans, that even Wikipedia is still guessing his age some days later.
A famous visitor
Eric has raced and won at all the well-known tracks across the country, but he prefers to settle in at the local smaller tracks such as Turfway, Ellis Park, Mountaineer, Belterra Park, and occasionally Keeneland where he can be closer to his family.
Despite his lack of fame, the legends in the industry all know Eric. Kitty and Mike Manganello, the Kentucky Derby-winning jockey on Dust Commander in 1970 came to pay his respect to Richie and Eric with his bling bling KY Derby ring shining from his hand. At Kitty’s urging and Eric’s blessing, the 81-year-old racing legend took a trip down memory lane and hopped up onto Richie. Eric turned to me and said one Kentucky Derby Winner on another Kentucky Derby winner, it doesn’t get any better than that.”
For his age, Eric is a bit broke down and is dealing with some back and neck issues because of his early years as an exercise rider. After one too many falls from horses, he told me that he finally developed enough sense to give it up, to instead follow in his father’s footsteps as a Trainer.
The day I was out visiting Mercury Equine Center I could tell he was still struggling with pain. He told me that it was from the spill he took after the win. The dog-pile that ensued as his daughter lead the way with the first pile-on leap.
A famous ring
Despite the tragedy of losing 23 horses and most of all his racing equipment to a barn fire caused by a lightning strike in 2016, he has risen from the ashes. Since the fire he has had recently lost a grandson, two of his assistant trainers to cancer, and just recently had to fight for his life in the hospital after contracting COVID-19.
Eric’s laughter is infectious, and his stories comical and legendary. He has the biggest heart you will ever meet and his 35+ employees are extremely loyal to him and love him dearly.
Eric’s generosity is renowned. He would never share such information, but I will. He recently covered the funeral expenses of a dear friend James Wellman, a former jockey who recently died of cancer. He is extremely loyal to his friends and will go way out of his way for those that he loves. His best man at his wedding still works for him. He once gave his farm manager, an immigrant, $75K to help him buy his first home for his family because he didn’t have the credit or understanding of the banking system. That was eventually paid back.
For memories of a special day.
I have said from day one that this story will someday be a movie. My buddy Serur Dawahare has already reached out to do a documentary, and Hollywood has shown some interest. Sylvester Stallone has expressed interest and Beverly Hills socialite and horse lover Robyn Cosio was wondering about the training facility, soaking up the atmosphere the day I was there. She was snapping pictures and videotaping everything, including the moment when Eric and I surprised another neighborhood buddy Michael Doyle in New York with a Facetime call with Richie in the background.
I root for my tribe, and I couldn’t be happier for Eric and Kay Reed. Regardless if this is just Eric’s 15 minutes of fame, or the Rich Strike elevates his career, I have reminded him to soak it up, smell those roses, and enjoy the moment. Like always, the newfound fame comes with the ugly as well, as he tries to remain the same person that he was the day before that fateful Saturday.
Eric will lean into his friends and will not let them change who he is and what he does, and regardless of the outcome, he will now be able to afford all the fishing lures of his liking to sneak off to the lake, his other true love.
Watching Richie work out was truly a gift and an experience that I will never forget. His strength and beauty just resonated as he galloped around the track that day. After talking with Eric about the decision to not enter Richie into the Preakness, it was the decision of a person truly looking out for the best interest of the horse. Fame and fortune be dammed.
I am not an autograph hound or collector, but the most memorable takeaway from that day was the autographed Team Reed hat that Eric surprised me with as I was leaving, and it now sits proudly in my office.
Thanks for bringing back the purity and good in the horse racing industry and showing us all that with hard work, persistence, belief, and dedication can prevail regardless of how big that dream may be.
Good luck in the Belmont, my friend.
Kevin Moore is a risk-management columnist for the NKyTribune. Here, he writes about a special friend, a special guy, and a special horse.
