Breeders' Cup-winning trainer Ron Moquett will judge the 92nd annual Maryland Horse Breeders Association Yearling Show. Open to all yearlings eligible for Maryland-bred registration, the show will be held on Sunday, June 28, at the Maryland State Fairgrounds' Horse Show Ring in Timonium.
Moquett is best known for the handling of $4.5-million earner Whitmore. Campaigned over seven seasons, the Eclipse Award champion male sprinter of 2020 made four starts in the Breeders' Cup Sprint-G1, winning in 2020, and counting a second in 2018 and third in 2019. During his championship season, Whitmore finished first or second in five of his seven starts, all stakes.
Other top runners from the Moquett barn include Stephen Foster Handicap-G1 winner Seek Gold, Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash winner and Breeders' Cup Sprint third-place finisher Gentlemen's Bet, and 2025 graded stakes-winning 3-year-old Speed King.
A native of Oklahoma, Moquett grew up around the race track and started with Quarter Horses before moving on to Thoroughbreds. Connecting with Oaklawn Park leading trainer Bernie Flint in the mid-1990s, he eventually became barn foreman before heading out on his own. He sent out his first runners in 1997 and had his first winner the next spring.
Based primarily at Oaklawn Park, where he consistently ranks among the top-10 trainers and was second behind Steve Asmussen by number of wins the past two years, Moquett saddled his 500th and 1,000th winners at the track.
Moquett will join the list of MHBA yearling show judges that include 27 Hall of Famers, dozens of classic-winning trainers, and notable bloodstock agents. Maryland-breds to compete in the show over its history include Hall of Famer Safely Kept, Eclipse Award-winning juveniles Declan's Moon and Smart Angle, and millionaire Urbane. Over the past decade, Kentucky Oaks-G1 winner Cathryn Sophia and Breeders' Cup winners Sharing and Aloha West were also participants.
Entries for this year's show closed June 1, but late entries will be accepted at a fee of $50 per yearling.
