Two-time classic-winning trainer Michael Matz will judge the 86th annual Maryland Horse Breeders Association Yearling Show. Open to all yearlings eligible for Maryland-bred registration, the show has been rescheduled for 2020 and will be held Sunday, July 19 at the Maryland State Fairgounds' Horse Show Ring in Timonium. Entries are due by June 20.
Based at Fair Hill Training Center, Matz is responsible for undefeated 2006 GI Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro and GI Belmont S. hero Union Rags. Matz also trained multiple Grade I-winning turf runner Kicken Kris, GI Breeders' Cup Distaff heroine Round Pond and Grade I-sprinter Visionaire.
Prior to launching his racing career, Matz won the U.S. National Show Jumping Championship six times and competed in three World Championships, winning a team gold medal in 1986. Matz competed in the Olympics on three occasions, earning a team silver at the 1996 games in Atlanta.
The list of judges in the MHBA Yearling Show's history consists of 26 Hall of Famers, and Triple Crown-winning trainers, including James “Sunny Jim” Fitzsimmons, Max Hirsch, Lucien Laurin and Billy Turner. Among Maryland-bred yearlings to have competed in the show are 2019 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Sharing, Eclipse Award-winning Hall of Famer Safely Kept, Eclipse Award-winning juveniles Smart Angle and Declan's Moon, and millionaires Cathryn Sophia, Urbane and Cherokee's Boy.
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