The Maryland Horse Breeders Association's 92nd annual show of Thoroughbred yearlings has been scheduled for Sunday, June 28, starting at 10 a.m. at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium.
The MHBA Yearling Show is open to all yearlings eligible for Maryland-bred registration and divided into four classes—Maryland-sired colts and geldings, out-of-state-sired colts and geldings, Maryland-sired fillies, and out-of-state-sired fillies. Prizes of $1,000 are awarded in each class, as well as $100 Maryland Million awards for Class I and Class III. The grand champion takes home an additional $1,000; the reserve $500.
Entry fee is $25 per yearling. After the June 1 deadline, the entry fee is $50 per yearling.
All horses exhibited are eligible for the Yearling Show Premium Awards, with two opportunities to earn part of the $40,000 premium: $20,000 divided among the exhibitors of the four show contestants who earn the most money as 2-year-olds, and another $20,000 divided among the exhibitors of the four highest-earning 3-year-old runners. Earnings are those verifiable by The Jockey Club. Every yearling shown, regardless of class standing, is eligible for the cash awards.
Beginning in 1932 as a showcase for Maryland breeders' yearlings, the MHBA show was first held on the lawn in front of the old Pimlico Clubhouse. Since 1960, it has been a summer fixture at the Timonium fairgrounds.
Twenty-seven Hall of Fame trainers are counted among past judges, including Triple Crown-winning trainers Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons, Max Hirsch, Lucien Laurin and Billy Turner, the latter having judged the show the day after Seattle Slew won the 1977 Preakness.
Yearlings shown in recent years include Breeders' Cup winners Sharing and Aloha West, Kentucky Oaks-G1 winner Cathryn Sophia and millionaires Eighttofasttocatch and Cordmaker. Eight yearling show participants (since 1988) have been named Maryland-bred Horse of the Year: Safely Kept, Tenski, Magic Weisner, Declan's Moon, Cherokee's Boy, Cathryn Sophia, Sharing and Fille d'Esprit.
