Trainer Butch Reid informed Pimlico racing office officials Wednesday afternoon that Uncle Heavy will be entered in the Preakness Stakes. The son of Social Inclusion, who is owned by Michael Milliam and LC Racing LLC, won the Withers Stakes (G3) before finishing fifth in the April 6 Wood Memorial (G2) at Aqueduct.

Uncle Heavy, named for Reid’s older brother Mark, himself formerly a trainer, has won three of five career starts and earned over $320,000. His wins include the Wait For It Stakes at his home base of Parx Racing and the Withers. The Withers victory, at 1 1/8 miles,  came February 3; Uncle Heavy didn’t race again until the Wood Memorial, also at 1 1/8 miles.

Following an outbreak of equine herpesvirus at Belmont the day after the Withers, Parx prohibited any horses shipping from Belmont to re-enter the grounds. The unfortunate timing put a stop to Uncle Heavy’s active training, and the colt was on the farm working on a jogging machine.

[For more: Trainer Butch Reid looking to build on “heck of a year”]

“We were thinking that we’d get another race into him before the Wood, but now that decision’s been made,” said Reid prior to the Wood. “We want to keep him at two turns, so we’ll train up to the Wood.” 

The New York race for sophomores between the Wood and Withers, the Gotham, is a one-turn mile event.

Uncle Heavy was bred in Pennsylvania by Mark Reid’s wife Barbara Reid.

Reid has never previously run a horse in the Preakness. He has wins in three other Grade 1 events: the 2020 Spinaway and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, both with champion Vequist, and 2012 Alfred G. Vanderbilt with Poseidon’s Warrior.

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