Barn Tour: Reid's growing stable has a Kentucky Derby hopeful

Now in his 40th year of training, Butch Reid had his best year yet in 2023. His $4 million in earnings were a half-million more than the previous year, which had been his career high. His 57 wins also were the most yet.

And this year, the Parx-based trainer has a candidate for his first Kentucky Derby in Uncle Heavy, winner of the Grade 3 Withers on Saturday.

“I'm a little bit of a late bloomer,” Reid told Horse Racing Nation on Monday. “It took me a while to get there, but it's really worked out well the last couple of years. We've got some really good-quality horses. We've been able to bump up off of that even better this year with a nice group of 2-year-olds, colts and fillies. So we're very excited about the future, and the last couple of years have been very good as well.”

There has been an uptick in quantity as well as quality, Reid said.

“I was normally in the 18- to 20-horse range, and now we're up to 40, and I'm kind of looking to limit it to right there. We've got all the 2-year-olds we can handle and of course I have a piece of Maximus Mischief, and he's been a godsend this year and worked out great as a stallion. So we've got five or six of them coming in every year now. We've got a good-quality group coming up every year.”

That Uncle Heavy was bred in Pennsylvania is not a coincidence.

“We've been breeding our own Pennsylvania-breds, example Ninetyprcentmaddie, and we've been training for some Pennsylvania-bred breeders. And when we go to a sale, we look at them. That 40 percent bonus is a lot of money that you get on the open race. And plus the PA-bred stakes have been very lucrative here. And we've got several horses closing in on a million dollars.”

Uncle Heavy, who was bred by Reid’s sister-in-law Barbara Reid, gave the trainer his second Withers win after he scored with Afleet Again in 2010. The son of Social Inclusion was 2-for-3 at Parx before starting on the Kentucky Derby trail.

“He was always a big colt,” Reid said. “It was a horse that the owner didn't give a whole lot of money for, so (winning the Withers) was a very pleasant situation. It worked out well.”

Reid is not concerned about asking Uncle Heavy to stretch out.

“He's got a great disposition on him, very laid back and a big, long-striding colt. The other day, it didn't really look like he caught his best stride until about the last 50 yards. So I don't think there's any distance that's going to be too much for this guy.”

Reid said Uncle Heavy is pointed to the Wood Memorial (G2) on April 6 for his next start.

That might not have been the plan, he said, but the colt couldn’t return to Parx for three weeks after the Withers because of the equine herpesvirus outbreak at Belmont Park.

“A couple of horses in the race were at Belmont, so that's why Parx made that call.”

Reid said the Parx requirement “helped make our decision easy. I was kind of leaning (toward the Wood) anyway, but we were thinking about maybe trying to get another race in there.”

Reid provided an update on others in his barn for the latest in HRN’s Barn Tour series.

3-year-olds

Maximus Meridius. This 3-year-old son of Maximus Mischief is 2-for-3 after winning his debut in November and an optional-claiming allowance last week. “Maximus Meridius is a horse we're really excited about, another one that I bought off my brother out of a field down in Chester County, Penn., for 30-something thousand. He's shown a lot of ability from the beginning, and he's really maturing into a nice colt. And we're really excited about him. He'll probably make his next start in the Gotham (G3) at Aqueduct in three weeks.”

Kiss for Luck. The 3-year-old Accelerate filly “is a half to Vequist by a Breeders' Cup and Eclipse Award-winning (sire), filly doing really well. Won a nice allowance race here for us the other day, and we're looking for maybe a stake possibility because you don't have much choice with 3-year-olds. So she could possibly run in the Main Line stakes here around two turns right at Philly at the beginning of next month.”

Carmelina. Another 3-year-old filly by Maximus Mischief, she is 4-for-6, including three stakes wins. “She's been a really hard tryer, and she's actually on a little bit of a break right now. She got a couple of weeks out of the farm, and she just got picked up (Monday). She’ll start back in training” and is pointed to a stakes at Parx in late April.

Luka D. The 3-year-old son of Boisterous finished fourth in a Parx maiden special weight Tuesday in his second start. “We're excited about his possibilities. Looks like a solid, solid horse.”

Older horses

Ninetyprcentmaddie. The 4-year-old gelding was 10: 2-3-2 last year, with all his starts in stakes. “Ninetyprcentmaddie had a great year last year. Multiple stakes winner, a homebred of Glen Bennett's, a Pennsylvania-bred and he's been a real find. Another one, he's at Barry Eisaman's again, had the winter off." His next start likely will be in the Page McKenney Handicap in late April.

Foggy Night. The 4-year-old Khozan filly won three of seven starts last year, including the Delaware Oaks (G3) and Cathryn Sophia. “Another one that's had the winter off and is galloping forwardly down at Barry Eisaman’s place. She's within a month of coming back and resuming her (5-year-old) career this year.”

Morning Matcha. The 5-year-old daughter of Central Banker had a record of 7: 2-2-2 last year, most recently winning a New York Stallion Series Stakes at Aqueduct in December. “She's another one that we've given a big piece of the winter off. She's again started up galloping down at Barry Eisaman’s place in Ocala, and she's been a real godsend of a horse. We didn't spend a whole lot of money for her, now she's a multiple stakes winner. Another one closing in on a million dollars in earnings. And she'll make her return in the Unique Bella for Pennsylvania-breds, going seven-eighths of a mile here in late April.”

Disco Ebo. The 5-year-old daughter of Weigelia was 4-for-6 last year and started this year with an allowance win at Parx. “She's won 10 out of 20 starts, close to $600,000 in earnings. Multiple stake winner, another PA-bred that's actually a full sister to Smooth B. And we've had that one mare, Katarica Disco. We bought about everything out of that mare, and they've all been, I think as a group, they've been over two-and-a-half million in earnings. … We've had close to 10 foals out of that mare, and they've all been black-type stakes-quality horses.”

Beren. The 6-year-old son of Weigelia has won 11 of 32 career starts and “has earned close to a million dollars at this point in his career. And he's actually had a little bit of a break, and he's now galloping down and Barry Eisaman’s place down in Ocala, Fla. And be heading back here very soon. We'd like to get him over a million dollars in earnings, just been a real great horse.”

Smooth B. At 9 years old, he’s “the old man in the group.” He was 0-for-7 last year but had three second-place efforts. He’s also in Ocala and will return for Pennsylvania-bred stakes in late April.

Dr. B. The 6-year-old daughter of Liam’s Map recently was retired with a career record of 23: 6-8-2 and earnings of $613,240. “Dr. B actually had her last start last week in the Interborough. Just missed, got beat a nose. And she was sent down to be bred. She's in Kentucky right now at Taylor Made and will be bred to Flightline. … Rock-solid filly. Ran against the best sprinters in the country, or the world for that matter, certainly held her own and was a really nice middle-distance horse.”