Thomas To Judge MHBA Yearling Show

Edited Press Release

Jonathan Thomas, trainer of the versatile multiple Grade I winner Catholic Boy, will judge the 88th annual Maryland Horse Breeders Association Yearling Show. Open to all yearlings eligible for Maryland-bred registration, the show will be held Sunday, July 24 at the Maryland State Fairgrounds' Horse Show Ring in Timonium. Entries are due by June 24.

Thomas was born in Virginia and raised at Paul Mellon's famed Rokeby Farm, where his grandfather, father and mother all worked. Growing up around quality horses, Thomas was 13 when Mellon's homebred Sea Hero won the Kentucky Derby. Twenty-five years later as a trainer, he was sending out Catholic Boy to win Grade Is on the turf and dirt, the latter in Saratoga's Travers S. It was only the third time in history that an American 3-year-old accomplished the Grade I dirt/turf double, following in the footsteps of Secretariat and California Chrome.

Before going out on his own, Thomas was an assistant for leading trainers Christophe Clement, Dale Romans and Todd Pletcher, and spent a year training in Saudi Arabia. He also worked in sales and breaking with J.J. Pletcher in Ocala, Fla., and over the years built up a business buying, breaking and training Thoroughbreds at Bridlewood Farm in Ocala.

Since saddling his first runners in 2005, he has a win percentage of 24%, and more than half his starters finish in the top three.

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Street Sense Filly Named Champion of MHBA Yearling Show

Trainer Gary Contessa selected a Street Sense filly as grand champion of the 87th annual Maryland Horse Breeders Association (MHBA)'s Yearling Show. The show was held Sunday at the Timonium Fairgrounds with the filly bred by the late Robert T. Manfuso out of GSW Belterra (Unbridled) prevailing. The winner is owned by Katharine Voss of Chanceland Farm and shown by the farm's manager Casey Randall.

“We all know that on a horse, the engine is in the rear, and she's got like a 400 horsepower engine in that rear end,” said Contessa. “I mean the colts looked great, the [reserve champion] filly looked great, but she was just the most powerful filly. She was classy, she had the ears up, she had the shoulders that matched the engine, she just had it all in my opinion.”

Four classes comprised of a total of 87 yearlings were judged by Contessa with reserve champion going to Hillwood Stable's homebred filly by Great Notion out of Dearie Be Good (Scrimshaw). All yearlings in the show are eligible for a $40,000 premium award, with $20,000 going to the exhibitors of the four entries who earn the most money as 2-year-olds in 2022 and the remaining $20,000 divided among the exhibitors of the four highest-earning 3-year-olds of 2023.

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