Reed Sheppard attends first Kentucky Derby, makes prediction

We know Mark Pope’s pick for the Kentucky Derby, but what about his college roommate’s son? You may have heard of him, Laurel County’s own Reed Sheppard. Pretty solid player, Kentucky’s all-time leader among three-point efficiency and going to the NBA — where he’s been officially classified as a top-10 pick by the league, might I add.

As he prepares for his life to be changed forever in June’s NBA Draft, Sheppard is spending the first Saturday in May at the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby. It’s his first as a spectator at Churchill Downs after watching his entire life back home.

Now he’s walking the red carpet as a VIP.

“Yeah, it’s been fun. I’m super excited to be here with my family,” Sheppard told the Herald-Leader’s Monica Kast. “This is our first time being here at the Derby so, I’m just super excited to see everybody and seeing all the races. I think it’s going to be really fun. … You get to watch it on TV and being from Kentucky you hear about it, but being able to be here for the first time I’m super excited.”

Mark Pope went with Sierra Leone, one of the favorites at 5-1 in the hours leading up to the race. What about Sheppard? He’s going with a bit of a surprise — not the longest shot, but still just the seventh-best odds overall in Mystik Dan. It makes sense considering it’s the No. 3 horse (he hit a few of those in Lexington, and it was also his high school jersey number).

“I just drew Mystik Dan out of the hat so we’re just gonna stick with that,” he joked.

It’s Reed Sheppard’s first Derby, and his pick is Mystic Dan pic.twitter.com/ij05KWcPmh

— Monica Kast (@monica_kast) May 4, 2024

Mystik Dan is trained by Kenny McPeek out of Lexington, who won the Kentucky Oaks on Friday with Thorpedo Anna. He enters the race sitting at 15-1 odds.

Will he win? Sheppard certainly hopes so as he represents the Wildcats well in a Kentucky blue suit at Churchill Downs.