By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
JUNE 13, 2025 | The first Saturday in June may not mean much to most Gwinnettians, but for those interested in horse racing, for this year and last year, it meant being at Saratoga Springs, N.Y., for the Belmont Stakes. It is one of the top three races each year for three year old horses, The race will also be run at Saratoga in 2026, then move back to Belmont Park, which is under renovation, in Elmont, N.Y. for 2027.
The families of Keith Mason, the Atlanta attorney who is the son of Ann and Wayne Mason of Snellville, and Dean and Patty Reeves of Suwanee had extra reason for being there. Also present was former Georgia Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor of Albany. They all are involved with horses owned in partnerships, and follow the horses closely.
One of the early pioneers for horse racing in Georgia was Cot Campbell of Atlanta, who Keith Mason says counseled with him and inspired him when he first got interested in horse racing.
As for Dean Reeves, he has found horse racing “exhilarating.” Reeves and his wife are deeply into horse-racing, owning 57 horses in partnership. One of his horses, Mucho Macho Man, was the winner of the Breeder’s Club Classic in 2013.
Reeves is also a long-time advocate of horse racing in Georgia. He has for years been president of the Georgia Horseracing Commission, which seeks to bring pari-mutuel betting to the state, but has been rebuffed by the Legislature.
Reeves is chairman of the 700-employee engineering firm of Reeves and Young of Suwanee.
Mason has been in horse racing partnerships since 2013. His first venture was a partnership, Donegal Racing, while later on he and a friend started West Paces Racing in 2019.
The West Paces group won the Belmont in 2024 with Dornoch. The Donegal group won the Belmont in 2022.
This year at Saratoga, the team won the $300,000 Poker Stakes race with Donegal Momentum, a four year old colt. The racing group also had another winner in the Pennine Ridge Stakes, as AP Kid took another $300,000 purse.
At Saratoga last weekend, the winner of the 2025 Belmont Stakes was Sovereignty, which is the horse owned by Godolphin USA, the thoroughbred stable of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Emir of Dubai. Dan Pride, a 1991 graduate of the University of Georgia, is the COO of Godolphin USA, which is the largest thoroughbred racing and breeding operation in the world. This horse first won the Kentucky Derby, but did not run in the second race of the triple crown, the Preakness. Another Godolphin horse, Essential Quality, also won the Belmont in 2021.
Those interested in racing have enjoyed the two years the Belmont shifted to Saratoga, N.Y. Mason says Saratoga is the “Southernmost town north of the Mason Dixon line.” One of the key features is its small capacity. For the Belmont, 50,000 fans gather, but for the 2024 summer meet, the average daily attendance was 26,951.
Keith Mason has yet another element about horse racing. He and his wife, Twinker, three years ago bought a 61-acre farm with several barns and horse stalls near Versailles, Ky., smack in bluegrass territory. There he raises hay, and the farm has a fish pond. It is also near their special needs daughter at a long-term care facility in Frankfurt, Ky. The family spends time there regularly.
Mason also adds another element about his horseracing interest. “To enjoy it, you have to spend a lot of time with it. But from a financial standpoint, it doesn’t generate much in financial rewards, but in psychological awards.”
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