Rich Strike’s Trainer on Series of Tragedies Leading Up to Kentucky Derby Victory: ‘Never Give Up’

Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike and the horse’s trainer clearly know the meaning of perseverance.

Rich Strike and jockey Sonny Leon won the 2022 Derby despite entering the race with 80-1 odds — an unbelievable victory (and one that comes after a series of challenges) that Reed speaks to PEOPLE about in this week’s issue.

“Richie was supposed to be a small-time horse, but he won it not by a whisker, but by coming from dead last and outrunning horses the hard way,” says Reed. “Miracles happen.”

This past weekend’s miracle follows several personal tragedies for Reed. Just years before the 2022 Derby, Reed and his staff lost 23 of his 36 horses when lightning sparked a fire in his stable in 2016.

“What we witnessed that night, I wouldn’t wish on the worst person in the world,” Reed recounts. “We found 13 that had survived, that we had gotten out of the barn, and that was a miracle. But you just think it can’t get any worse than that and you want to give up. And there’s emotions from anger to hurt to disgust to … emotions you’ve never felt before.”