May 6, 2011
By Jon Cooper
Sting Daily
– You’d have to be a really dedicated fan to remember Dean Reeves from his playing days on the Georgia Tech Basketball Team.
He played one year, 1972.
While you probably didn’t get much of a chance to root for him then, you can make it up to him by rooting on his charge, Mucho Macho Man, who will be running out of the No. 13 hole in today’s Kentucky Derby.
Whether a devoted fan of the sport, a curious observer in the pursuit of the Triple Crown (there has not been a Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978) or none of the above, Yellow Jackets supporters should take the opportunity to watch “the fastest two minutes in sports” and cheer on a member of the family, kind of.
Mucho Macho Man is a 12-1 shot and is owned by Reeves, an Atlanta native and Georgia Tech alumnus, Class of ’73. The Business Management major took an unlikely road to Churchill Downs.
Upon graduating from Tech, he began as an estimator at Reeves Contracting Company and worked his way up to his current title of CEO and Owner. He and his wife’s passion for horse racing led to them founding Reeves Thoroughbred Racing & Dream Team Racing Stable, in 2009.
So much of horse racing involves chance and the Reeves’ ownership of Mucho Macho Man is proof of that. Chance and their instincts.
Reeves and wife, Patti, had actually been looking at a different horse, a horse named Gourmet Dinner. While watching Gourmet Dinner race, they got a look at Mucho Macho Man. That’s when instinct kicked in.
Despite the fact that Gourmet Dinner won the race, Reeves liked the potential of Mucho Macho Man. He bought a 70-percent share.
Tomorrow, that instinctive pick goes off at 12-1 in the Run For the Roses (the favorite is Dialed In at 4-1).
In five races, Mucho Macho Man has finished in the money four times (a win, two places, and a show) and finished fourth in the other race. That’s nice but not nice enough to garner better than 12-1 odds.
Regardless, Mucho Macho Man has an opportunity that only 19 other horses will ever have, to win the Kentucky Derby.
It’s a long shot, but Reeves is happy to take it. In his playing days, he wore No. 41.
Today, he’ll be rooting for No. 13, his new lucky number. Needless to say, for at least two minutes today, triscadecaphobia will be on hold.
