Sports

Mucho Macho Man Has Gwinnett Ties

Preakness Stakes contender owned by Gwinnett couple.

Dean and Patti Reeves have been on national television and all over area media. Now they are famous in their own Gwinnett neighborhood.

"You're the man with the horse," some children selling lemonade told the Reeves in their Suwanee community recently.

The "horse," of course, is Mucho Macho Man, the 2-year-old thoroughbred who finished third in this month's Kentucky Derby and therefore is regarded as a contender for Saturday'sPreakness Stakes in Baltimore, the second leg in horse racing's Triple Crown.

Find out what's happening in Lilburn-Mountain Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Television coverage on NBC is to begin Saturday at 4:30 p.m.; race start officially is 6:19 p.m.

The owners left for Baltimore earlier this week, and 3M, as the horse is sometimes known, was to make the trip from Belmont Park in New York on Wednesday for the big race. Thoroughbred racing is a national, year-long sport.

Find out what's happening in Lilburn-Mountain Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"It's not like the Super Bowl," Dean Reeves said. Later this summer, there will be the Belmont Stakes back in New York, and the Breeders Cup, back in Louisville, Ky.

"We kept thinking," Patti Reeves said, "that it would be great this year if the Falcons won the Super Bowl and Mucho Macho Man won the Kentucky Derby."

Well, that didn't happen, but 3M still covered Dean Reeves' show bet; the owner also bet on his horse to win and place. 3M is a 5-1 bet -- short odds -- to win the Preakness.

"It's so difficult to get there," Dean Reeves said of the highest level of horse racing. "There's a lot of worry and stress. We knew we had a good horse. We were just hoping he would not get sick or injured."

Derby plans were made anyway, in January, when the owners booked 30 rooms before knowing whether their horse would be eligible (it's based on graded earnings). "You can't decide two weeks before," Dean Reeves said. "There's so much to do on that day."

Besides logistics, there's the matter of the Kentucky Derby entry fee: $50,000. It's $20,000 for the Preakness.

Obviously, it's a high-end sport. Dean Reeves, though, long has been a success with Reeves Contracting, the Sugar Hill-based company that has done site work on the Sugar Hill City Hall as well as the Georgia Dome and Centennial Park. Now it's mostly about Reeves Thoroughbred Racing.

Racing is his primary focus, as Dean Reeves' son and a partner have handled day-to-day activities for the past 3 1/2 years. Dean Reeves said it has taken the business to a new level.

"A year ago, I had never won a race," he said. That fits with 3M's underdog image. He had early health difficulties, but now is a fan favorite.

"People seem to connect with this horse," Reeves said. "That's the real rewarding part."

And Mucho Macho Man really connects with one of the owners, too. "He talks to Patti," Dean Reeves said.

Steve Burns is the Local Editor for Suwanee Patch


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here