A fire engulfed one of the barns at his Lexington, Kentucky, equine center, in the middle of a December night, killing 23 thoroughbred horses and causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage."When we drove up on that that night, I told my wife, I said, 'we've probably lost everything,'"Reed recounted this week."The next morning, when we saw the devastation ...
61 time.The victory was all the more stunning because Rich Strike wasn't even in the field until Friday, when derby officials announced another horse pulled out. Reed told reporters he brought his team down a few days before the race, on the possibility the horse might get a chance to run, to begin preparing"against all odds."Jockey Sonny Leon hugs trainer Eric Reed after Rich Strike's victory."Nobody thought we could get in," he said.