He considered leaving the horse business after tragedy struck. Now this trainer just won the Kentucky Derby

By Christina Maxouris, CNN

Updated 0229 GMT (1029 HKT) May 8, 2022

Trainer Eric Reed holds the trophy after Rich Strike's victory at the 148th running of the Kentucky Derby.

(CNN)Nearly six years ago, Eric Reed almost called it quits from the horse training business.

A fire engulfed one of the barns at his Lexington, Kentucky, equine center, in the middle of a December night,killing 23 thoroughbred horses and causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage.«When we drove up on that that night, I told my wife, I said, 'we've probably lost everything,' » Reed recounted this week. «The next morning, when we saw the devastation… I just thought of all the years and all the stuff we had done to get this beautiful farm and to have this happen, that something might be telling me it's the end of the line.»That was 2016.Long-shot Rich Strike stuns crowd and wins the 148th Kentucky DerbyReed didn't give up, and with friends — and sometimes strangers — who showed up to help, he continued training. «I just decided, I wasn't going to let it take me out.»Read MoreIt paid off: Reed is now a Kentucky Derby winner.Rich Strike, the horse he trains, entered as the biggest long shot in the race (80-1 odds) and surged forward in the home stretch to cross the finish line first with a 2:02.61 time.The victory was all the more stunning because Rich Strike wasn't even in the field until Friday, when derby officials announced another horse pulled out. Reed told reporters he brought his team down a few days before the race, on the possibility the horse might get a chance to run, to begin preparing «against all odds.»Jockey Sonny Leon hugs trainer Eric Reed after Rich Strike's victory.«Nobody thought we could get in,» he said. When the horse came