Dean and Patti Reeves having a meet to remember
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - One of the more regular sights thus far during the current Saratoga meet has been Dean Reeves and his wife Patti greeting another horse in the winner’s circle.
The couple, who race under the nom de course of Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, both on their own and in partnership with other entities, have already made eight such trips this summer, including two on Wednesday, the second after their odds-on favorite Dakota Gold captured the Cab Calloway division of the New York Stallion Series.
The Reeves’ have won with five of the seven starters they have campaigned here to date who race exclusively in their name, four of those victories coming in stakes. Two of those stakes tallies have been posted by the turf sprint specialist Big Invasion, including the Grade 3 Quick Call on July 17.
“It’s been a hell of a meet,” Reeves said in the winner’s circle immediately after the Cab Calloway. We’ve had eight wins altogether, five in stakes. I remember the day when I just begged for one win up here. And that wasn’t that far back.”
Reeves was quick to praise his team for the success he’s had during the meet.
“It’s been unbelievable, but there had been a lot of work done by a lot of good people on our team before we got here,” Dean Reeves noted. “Jimmy Gladwell and Nellie and Chetley Breeden (of Two Springs Farm in Micanopy, Fla.) did a lot of work preparing these horses. We gave them the time off and then when they got here, their trainers did a great job of getting them ready for these races. We were really gunning for Saratoga.”
Among the trainers who have won races for the Reeves’ here this summer are Danny Gargan, who saddled Dakota Gold to victory on Wednesday; Christophe Clement, who trains Big Invasion; Tom Amoss, who won the Tale of the Cat Stakes with Isolate; and George Weaver, with whom Reeves captured Wednesday’s sixth race with Legends Can’t Die in partnership with R.A Hill Stable, Rap Stable, and Chris Mara.
The Reeves’ most noteworthy victory to date came in the 2013 Breeders’ Cup Classic with Mucho Macho Man, who was trained by Kathy Ritvo.