About Reeves Thoroughbred Racing
Dean Reeves became interested in horse racing as a young adult. He attended his first Kentucky Derby in 1976, and continued attending every year for the next 22 consecutive years!
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In 2007, Dean and his wife Patti met their first future horse partners, Bob and Esther Ades, while vacationing in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Ades was a long-time horse racing enthusiast from the New York area, and had already had a starter in the Kentucky Derby with his horse Technology, who won the Florida Derby in 1992. While the wives hit it off discussing jewelry, the men began plotting to buy their first racehorse together. And from this chance meeting, Dean and Patti entered the horse racing world.
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In 2009, Dean and Patti formed Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, and began to purchase their own horses. While having lunch one day at Saratoga’s Grey Gelding Restaurant, they drew their first set of silks on a bar napkin, never knowing those silks would soon race in the Kentucky Derby. Dean picked Gold and White for his alma mater Georgia Tech, and Patti added the color green to complete the design, with the letter “R” in a diamond on the front of the silks.
It was in 2010 that Dean got a call from trainer Tim Ritvo about a potential horse for sale. Tim encouraged Dean to watch a race replay from Calder, and to focus on the winning horse named Gourmet Dinner. After watching the race, Reeves called Ritvo and said, “Call me crazy, but I like the second place horse.” That horse was Mucho Macho Man. The purchase was made, and history began.
The Reeves, with Trainer Kathy Ritvo, campaigned Mucho Macho Man as he competed as the youngest horse to run all three legs of the Triple Crown, finishing 3rd place in the 2011 Kentucky Derby, and on to multiple graded stakes victories, stamping his mark in history with his championship win in the 2013 Breeders’ Cup Classic. This win was the NTRA Moment of the Year, and Mucho Macho Man won the Secretariat Vox Populi Award as well as Florida Bred Horse of the Year award.
Dean is a native of Atlanta, and is Chairman and Co-Owner of Reeves Young, one the most successful commercial contracting companies in Georgia, established in 1952. He is also the President of the Georgia Horse Racing Coalition, non-profit organization promoting the sport of horse racing in the State of Georgia.
Patti owns ReevesShaw Media, an leading outdoor advertising consulting business in Atlanta.
Dean and Patti are active members of Gwinnett Church in Sugar Hill, GA. Together their goal is to be good stewards of the sport, and everything entrusted to them by God.
“The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the Lord.” Proverbs 21:31
