Ron Moquett

As we approach the opening of the 2024 breeding season, the TDN staff is once again sitting down with leading breeders to find out what stallions they have chosen for their mares, and why. Today we caught up with Williams S. Sparks of Monroe, Louisiana. Originally from Arkansas where he grew up attending Oaklawn races with his grandfather, Sparks has assembled a band which reflects his philosophy of breeding to race. "I'm really deeply committed to breeding a sound racehorse who is going to do what they do best--run," said...

6th-Oaklawn, $115,000, Msw, 12-31, 2yo, 6f, 1:10.52, ft, 1 3/4 lengths. TIME FOR TRUTH (c, 2, Omaha Beach--Shape Shifter, by Lookin At Lucky) debuted as a 4-1 shot here and got down to business from the bell as he fanned three-wide up the backstretch. The bay colt briefly took over the lead around the far turn until he was joined at the quarter pole by Mr Fillip (Mitole). As the pair entered the lane, they separated themselves from the rest of the field, but it was the Ron Moquett trainee...

For the last several days, I have been thinking about the best way to respond to Friday's article by T.D. Thornton about Mr. and Mrs. Pimental. The story was disturbing to read, both because of the human story and the picture it paints of the organization I manage. First, it is impossible to not feel tremendous empathy for what the Pimentals are experiencing. Second, the article implied that HISA and HIWU are devoid of concern for regular horsemen, are looking to wipe out smaller training operations, and are ignorant to...

4th-CNL, $60K, Msw, 3yo/up, 1 1/16mT, 3:00 p.m. A $700,000 Ylg FTSAUG purchase, INTEGRATION (Quality Road) debuts for Shug McGaughey. Out of 2016 GI Del Mar Oaks heroine Harmonize (Scat Daddy), who was campaigned and bred by Larkin Armstrong, this 3-year-old colt hails from a deep, extended female family which includes MGSWs like Al Khali (Medaglia d'Oro), Cappuchino (Capote) and Hungry Island (More Than Ready), plus GI Diana S. heroine and MGSW Somali Lemonade (Lemon Drop Kid) and MGISW Verrazano (More Than Ready). TJCIS PPs 5th-SAR, $136K, Msw, 2yo, 7f,...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - A panel on computer-assisted wagering (CAW) and its pros and cons, and another on trainers' reactions to the new Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) regulations, took center stage at the 2023 Jockey Club Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing held in Saratoga Springs, New York on Thursday. Patrick Cummings, the moderator of the panel on CAWs, is the Executive Director of the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation, a racing-industry think tank. Cummings took the panel through a brief history of parimutuel wagering and the changes...

Michael Lopez, senior director of Data and Analytics for the National Football League, will be the keynote speaker for the 71st Annual Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing, The Jockey Club announced today. The conference will be held at the Saratoga Springs City Center in Saratoga Springs, New York, on Thursday, Aug. 3, at 10 a.m. ET. Chairman Stuart S. Janney III will preside over the conference and give insights on activities of The Jockey Club and the future of the sport. Lopez will discuss how data is...

TIMONIUM, MD - With a $1-million filly leading the way, the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale concluded its two-day run at the Maryland State Fairgrounds with statistics close to its record-setting 2022 renewal. "It was a great two days in Maryland," Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sales Director Paget Bennett said Tuesday evening. "There was plenty of competition for the horses people wanted. The ones they want, they all go to battle on." At the end of Tuesday's session, 375 head sold for $34,795,500. The average was $92,788--down just 2.7% from...

Lion Horse Race Co. Ltd.'s Continuar (Jpn) (Drefong) will reportedly be scratched from this year's GI Kentucky Derby, according to trainer Yoshito Yahagi. "After evaluating the colt upon my arrival, I feel that he has not been able to reach the peak fitness required to take on a race as tough as the Kentucky Derby," Yahagi said. "Considering the future of the horse and the fact that we cannot show the horse's true ability in his current state, we have decided to scratch Continuar from the Kentucky Derby. I am...

After some test rings last spring, Oaklawn's fund-raising efforts for local Thoroughbred aftercare began in earnest Dec. 9 with the opening of its scheduled 68-day live racing season. The final six days of the 2021-2022 meeting raised $14,000 through the new "Ring the Bell" program, which gives winning connections following each race an opportunity to donate at least $100 toward aftercare. Money raised is earmarked for the Arkansas Thoroughbred Retirement Program and Rehabilitation Foundation Inc., a collaboration between the Arkansas division of the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association and Oaklawn....

In this new TDN column, Christie DeBernardis will tell the stories of accomplished and/or popular former racehorses who are now enjoying second careers as show horses, track ponies, etc. Champion sprinter Whitmore (Pleasantly Perfect) and Laura Moquett's relationship goes back to when he was just a 2-year-old who refused to go around the racetrack without some coaxing. Fast forward seven years and that cantankerous juvenile is now an Eclipse winner and Breeders' Cup winner and has been retired from racing as Moquett's personal riding horse. On Thursday, less than 13...

A familiar face will be leading the post parade Saturday for the GIII Whitmore S.--the race's namesake. Oaklawn announced in early September that Mar. 19 would be christened as 'Whitmore Day,' renamed the Hot Springs S. after the gelding, and even renamed his longtime home at the track, formerly the Count Fleet barn, after him. Saturday's script calls for Whitmore to follow the field from the barn area to the track, then head into the horseshoe-shaped hedge infield winner's circle, traditionally used for stakes contests, as the horses are being...

   The TDN's 'Let's Talk'--a podcast series featuring TDN's Christina Bossinakis and TVG's on-air analyst Gabby Gaudet, offers candid discussion on personal, and sometimes sensitive, topics that are often uncomfortable for many to speak about in an open forum.    The latest edition presents a trio of successful trainers--New York's David Donk, Ron Moquett, who is principally based at Oaklawn Park and Churchill Downs and Kentucky horseman Brad Cox, who was honored with his second Eclipse Award as the nation's leading trainer at the awards ceremony held at Santa Anita...