Uncle Heavy will be one of the longer shots among handicappers in the $2 million Preakness Stakes (G1) at Pimlico Race Course May 18, but with an eye-catching name he is likely to draw attention from the casual racing fans.
Upon first glance at the Pennsylvania-bred son of Social Inclusion, his name makes sense. Standing about 17 hands tall and weighing around 1,250 pounds, Uncle Heavy is a towering presence on the track and at the barn. However, his name is actually a reference to trainer Butch Reid's brother Mark, who bred the colt with his wife, Barbara. Barbara Reid is the formal breeder of record.
The Reids grew up in southern New Jersey, just across the Delaware River from Philadelphia. Both were wrestlers in high school and continued the sport through their days at the University of Maryland.
The brothers developed a passion for horse racing attending the races at Garden State Park with their grandfather. Once in Maryland, they began working with trainer Dick Dutrow at Laurel Park and Bowie Race Track. The grooms around the barn created a nickname for Mark based on his success as a heavyweight wrestler.
"They started calling him 'Heavy,'" said Butch. "We picked it up. Then the nieces and nephews started calling him 'Uncle Heavy.'"
After being bred by Mark and Barbara at their Walnut Green farm in Kennett Square, Pa., this Social Inclusion colt, owned by Mark's friend and client, Mike Milam, became the perfect horse to wear the name Uncle Heavy.
That Uncle Heavy is in this position is a surprise for Milam, who got into the game years ago with his father and Mark.
Having known Mark Reid since 1981, Milam said he became a "sort of de facto stable man" for him, having driven him up and down the New Jersey Turnpike "a thousand times." After a break from the sport for a period, Milam got back into horse racing after his wife, Denise Marie, died in 2019.
Reconnected with Mark, Milam worked his way back by buying a couple of claimers then he had about nine. Mark was running Milam's horses in Maryland and Delaware, but it was not going the way he envisioned.
He was not quite ready to give up. He told Mark he wanted to buy "a couple more babies."
Then, Mark called him from the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic December Mixed Sale.
"He said, 'I just bought you a mare.' I don't want a mare in foal," Milam said.
That mare was Expect Wonderful, who was in foal to Social Inclusion. Of the three purchases made that day on behalf of Milam, Expect Wonderful was the cheapest at $1,700. The foal she gave birth to is Uncle Heavy.
Uncle Heavy broke his maiden on first asking in October 2023. After finishing fifth in the Pennsylvania Nursery Stakes at Parx Racing, he posted back-to-back wins capped by a nose win in the Withers Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct Racetrack.
"It's been an unbelievable ride," Milam said.
Milam's newfound on-track success did not stop there.
In 2021, he bought a Cross Traffic yearling from the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Eastern Fall Yearling Sale. That filly has been running well with a 5-2-0 mark from 10 starts. Last time out, Neecie Marie—named after his late wife—won the Beaugay Stakes (G3T)
Something that was not heavy with Uncle Heavy was initial expectations. The colt failed to impress through his early breezes once joining Butch's operation, but as the distances of his breezes started getting longer, Uncle Heavy began to show that he had talent.
"He's just a big horse with a big stride. That's the good building blocks for where you want to get started," Butch said. "Once the distances started getting (longer) and we started getting ready to run him, he really stepped to the floor and blossomed."
Uncle Heavy blossomed into a Pennsylvania-bred stakes winner at Parx Racing as a 2-year-old and successfully took his game on the road when beating open company in the Withers Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct Racetrack Feb. 3. After the Withers, Milam sold 40% of the colt to Glen Bennett's LC Racing.
"I had a lot of success in the game with (late Hall of Fame trainer) Bobby Frankel, so I've been around a lot of these good horses," Mark said. "I just never thought one would fall our way.
"To have one that we bred, (by) a local stallion and a mare that nobody wanted, it's quite a thrill. Then to sell him to a friend of mine and have him trained by my brother, it doesn't get much better than that."
One day after his victory in the Withers, luck turned against Uncle Heavy. A horse at Belmont Park tested positive for equine herpesvirus and caused the barn to be quarantined. One of Uncle Heavy's Withers competitors had potentially been exposed, causing Uncle Heavy to be quarantined and unable to return to Butch's Parx base.
Waiting out his quarantine at a local farm, Uncle Heavy missed about three weeks of training and had to use a jogging machine to stay fit.
"They did a nice job with him, he came in without losing too much," Butch said. "It did put us a little behind the eight ball; we had to play catch up getting to the Wood."
Uncle Heavy's luck only got worse at Aqueduct's Wood Memorial Stakes (G2) April 6. Breaking from the far outside, Uncle Heavy was beginning to launch his rally in the stretch when a horse next to him, Deposition, clipped heels with another contender and fell. Deposition made contact with Uncle Heavy on the way down and, according to Butch, distracted both his colt and jockey Mychel Sanchez. Uncle Heavy would regroup to finish fifth, but the rough trip cost him a shot at qualifying for the Kentucky Derby (G1).
Six weeks removed from all the turmoil that cost him a spot in the Run for the Roses, Uncle Heavy has not missed a beat and comes into the Preakness ready to put forth his best.
"Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that we didn't get into the Derby, we might not have been able to resist the temptation," said Butch. "(The Preakness) is not a 20-horse field; it's an eight-horse field, which is a big difference for (Uncle Heavy's closing style)."
It was 20 years ago that Smarty Jones etched his name into Preakness lore as a Pennsylvania-bred winner, and now Uncle Heavy will have his chance to add his name to the list.
"I've been in the big time with some good trainers and owners in the past, but it's different when it's you," Mark said. "It's great fun, Butch has done a great job with him."
"It would be fantastic, especially since we have close ties to Maryland," Butch said. "The Preakness is always a race that stuck out to me. To finally get there will be something special."
