Photo:

Jason Moran / Eclipse Sportswire

Butch Reid was having a good year, but it “really improved” over the weekend, he said, when Neecie Marie won the Grade 3 Ladies Marathon at Kentucky Downs.

It was his third graded-stakes win of the year, tying his career high set in 2020. Neecie Marie, a 4-year-old daughter of Cross Traffic, also won the Beaugay (G3) in May.

“She’s turned out to be a very pleasant surprise, Neecie Marie,” Reid told Horse Racing Nation on Monday from his home barn at Parx. “We switched her to the turf. She’s just taken off since then.”

He was still trying to figure out what might be next for the filly.

“She’s not Breeders’ Cup eligible just yet, so I’m making sure I have all my information correct to talk to the owners about where her next step might be” Reid said. “She came out of the race great so far, and she’s real happy. She’s back home in her stall in Philadelphia and doing very well.”

Reid discussed other talent in his stable for the latest in HRN’s Barn Tour series.

Uncle Heavy. The 3-year-old colt by Social Inclusion looked to be on his way to the Kentucky Derby after winning the Withers (G3) in March. But those plans went awry after a troubled trip in the Wood Memorial (G2), where he finished fifth. He was out of the money in the Preakness and Ohio Derby (G3), then came back with a third-place finish in the listed Smarty Jones at Parx last month. “He’s doing very well,” Reid said. “We’re going to take a shot with him in the Pennsylvania Derby (G1) in two weeks. We said we’re getting tired of kind of making excuses for him. But he’s doing extremely well. He’s a big, strong horse and just kind of can’t seem to get things right. He’s not gotten the best trips the last couple of times. But I’m convinced one of these times, he’s going to get the right trip and he’s going to really show what he can do. So that’s what we’re hoping will happen. Fortunately, we finished third in the Smarty Jones, which gave us free nomination and entry fees into the Derby, so we decided we’re right here at home. It’s our home track that we know he likes. Let’s go ahead and take a shot.”

Asked what was behind his poor showingsninetypr  after the Withers, Reid said, “I hate to keep making excuses for the horse, but each time he just seems to be a horse who needs things to really go his own way, which is a sharp pace in front of him and a nice outside trip, and it really hasn’t worked out for him. After the Ohio Derby, he scoped terribly. It was real hot and humid during our week out there in Cleveland, and he came up with a real dirty throat. We’ve cleaned that up ever since. And I think it showed in his performance in the Smarty Jones, where he ran better but still didn’t get the perfect trip that I wanted for him in there. He’s a horse that does well, but he kind of needs things his own way. And one of these times, I think it’s going to work it out for him, so we’ll keep trying.”

Ninetyprcentmaddie. The 5-year-old gelded son of Weigelia was second in the Runhappy (G3) and the True North (G2), then third in the John A. Nerud (G2) before a fifth-place effort last out in the listed Jump Start at Parx. “He’s had a great summer. He ran against the best sprinters, certainly on the East Coast if not in the country, and more than held his own, a couple of graded seconds and graded thirds. And we put him back against the Pennsylvania-breds here a couple of weeks ago. We thought it’d be a real good spot for him, and he ran just a little flat for us. We were kind of puzzled by the effort until the morning after the race, he came up with 104 fever. So he was brewing something definitely in his last start, and he’s done well since. … He had a little bit of a cough that always goes along with that, and we’ve cleaned that all up, and we hope to make a start with him on Pennsylvania Derby day here in a couple of weeks too. So he definitely had an excuse in his last start. And he’s been training very well recently.”

Maximus Meridius. A 3-year-old gelding by Maximus Mischief, he is winless in his last six starts, although those included second-place finishes in the three of them. “He’s another one who came back with a strong effort in the (Salvadore DeBunda Sprint) his last start at Parx. He ran a good second. The horse that beat him just ran a really spectacular race. But we gave him a little freshening over the summer. He tried all the guys and the Grade 1s and everything as well. Gave him a freshening, he came back with a better effort the other day, and we may try him in the Gallant Bob (G2) on Pennsylvania Derby day as well.”

Morning Matcha. The 5-year-old daughter of Central Banker is 2-for-4 this year, with all her starts in stakes. Last out, she won the Miss Penny, for Pennsylvania-breds, by 11 1/4 lengths after it was taken off the turf. “She did a great job. We were fortunate, we nominated her as a main-track-only in the Miss Penny on PA-bred day. And she came through with flying colors for us and won very easily. And she’ll run back on Pennsylvania Derby day as well” in a stakes for Pennsylvania-breds.

Disco Ebo. The 5-year-old Weigelia mare is 2-for-7 this year and finished sixth last out in the Regret Stakes at Monmouth Park. “We’ve kind of found, over the last couple years, she’s not really a good hot-weather horse. So we gave her the last couple of months off, where the weather was really hot and humid. And she just began back in training the other day, and she’s looking fantastic. And we’re looking for a nice winter campaign with her. Doing very well. She’ll be a nice fresh horse when we have her ready here in October or early November.”

2-year-olds

Baby Dukes. This son of Maximum Mischief has won 2 of 3 starts, with a sixth-place finish in the Sanford (G3) sandwiched between his wins. “He did a fantastic job in the race down at Delaware, where he was able to win in the allowance race. Kind of a horse that fools around a little bit. He made the lead a little easy, then he let the horse come back at him toward the wire. But then the jock said he re-broke after the wire and opened back up on him again. So we’re thinking he wants to go a little further. And we’ve got a one-mile stake at Delaware Park in line for him. That’s around the first week of October. We’ll have to look for stake company now that he’s already won the allowance condition. So we’ll look at that race.”

Colonel Bob. This Yorkton colt won his Aug. 20 debut by 5 1/4 lengths. “Colonel Bob did really well. He was a little bit of a pleasant surprise. It was the first horse I’ve had for the owners (Hausfrau Racing), and I wasn’t really aware of his pedigree. I hadn’t even heard of his father, who was Yorkton. He trained well, but then he even surprised us a little bit with his performance in his first start, and came out of it real well. And he may have us even maybe even thinking about the Champagne (G1) for him. He won going seven-eighths first time out, and it looks like the further the better for him. So we want to try him at a little bit longer distances. So that’s one of the possibilities of the couple of races that we saw coming up.”

Central to Success. This Central Banker filly won her debut in July and then was third in a black-type stakes at Saratoga last out. “Unfortunately, she was injured and had a little surgery, but she’ll be back next spring. We’re real excited about her, but she’s going to need some time off right now. But she’s doing well, and she’ll be ready when we crank it up again when the weather breaks here in the spring.”

Beyondexpectations. A half-brother to Uncle Heavy, by Peace and Justice out of Expect Wonderful, he debuted Tuesday at Parx and lost by 3/4 length after being caught at the eighth pole.