Kentucky’s Reed Sheppard Announces NIL Deal With Racehorse as Season Enters Home Stretch

You will never read a more Kentuckian story.

Despite its affinity for sports, the state of Kentucky has no Big Four professional teams. The National League left Louisville in 1899, the NFL in 1926, the Negro Leagues in 1932, and the ABA in 1976—each pro sports league never to return.

Thus, when most American sports fans picture Kentucky, college basketball and horse racing are the two that jump immediately to mind—the images of raucous patrons downing mint juleps at Churchill Downs in May and Kentucky mowing down all comers in March.

Wildcats guard Reed Sheppard has dared to ask the question: what if Kentucky’s two pastimes joined forces?

On Wednesday, Sheppard announced an NIL deal that will see him promote Life Is Good—a horse currently at stud for WinStar Farm in Versailles, Ky.

Reed Sheppard signed a very uniquely Kentucky NIL deal one day after a game-winning buzzer beater against Mississippi State :: Petre Thomas/USA TODAY Sports

“Reed Sheppard is all about what we believe in at WinStar,” said Elliott Walden, the farm’s president/CEO and racing manager, in a statement. “Being a good teammate (partner), conducting himself with humility, and giving 100 percent in all he does. We think he is a great fit for Life Is Good and WinStar Farm.”

Sheppard is the fourth Wildcat to promote a racehorse and second Kentucky native to do so (after wide receiver and Lexington native Dane Key; Sheppard is from London). News of his endorsement came after he hit a buzzer beater Tuesday to lift No. 16 Kentucky past Mississippi State 91–89.

Life Is Good won nine races from 12 starts in his three-year career, earning over $4.5 million from 2020 to ’22.