Maryland trainer King T. Leatherbury joined two others with strong regional connections -- jockey Chris Antley, who grew up and learned to ride at the Elloree Training Center in South Carolina, and Maryland-based sprinting dynamo Xtra Heat, purchased by trainer John Salzman Sr. for Ken Taylor and Harry Deitchman for $5,000 out of the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-old sale -- in the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame class of 2015.
In typical Leatherbury fashion, the 82-year-old quipped: "I got the call, and I demanded a recount."
In a strange Maryland Hunt Cup, Ann Jackson's Raven's Choice, bred by her late husband Cary, was awarded victory after apparent winner Imperial Way, who crossed the finish a half-length in front, failed to carry the appropriate weight the entire trip, a lead pad having fallen out after clearing the 19th fence. It was the same fence where Cary Jackson fell while riding in the race in 1951, and where his ashes were spread in 2011.
Mark Beecher picked up his second Hunt Cup win in three years. Bethany Baumgardner, one of four female riders to compete in 2015, missed winning in the previous year's race by a nose aboard Imperial Way. Now a trainer who started two horses on Preakness weekend in 2025, she recorded her first victory two weeks earlier in the John D. Schapiro Memorial at My Lady's Manor.
Grade 1 winner Moreno, trained by Eric Guillot, won the $1.5 million Charles Town Classic-G2, while overwhelming favorite Shared Belief, the world's best racehorse according to the Longines international rankings system, was pulled up on the backside by Mike Smith after suffering a hip fracture. Without Shared Belief, show prices were lucrative -- $23.20 on Moreno, who paid $16 to win; $71.20 on Imperative and $45.60 on Page McKenney.
Shared Belief , champion 2-year-old male of 2013 trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, returned to training months later, but died from colic after a workout in December.
Mark Reid, one of the region's leading trainers when he retired in 2000, saddled his first winner in 15 years, sending out claimer Dreaming of Andy A in March at Penn National. Reid had been a bloodstock agent the years in between, buying the likes of Medaglia d'Oro, You and Midas Eyes, and managing the career of 2005 Horse of the Year Saint Liam, and purchasing (with partners) Walnut Green Farm in West Grove, Pa.
On his return, Reid said: "It was great watching the first foals be born at the farm, but a lot of it is watching grass grow." He admitted to not having any undue expectations: "I'm just going to have fun with a few horses at Fair Hill Training Center. I've been wacky about this sport since I was a young man, and I'm happy to report the feeling never gets old."
Reid trained another seven years, won 138 more races, and sent out the earners of more than $1 million in 2019. Lifetime he won 1,821 races with purse earnings of nearly $21 million.
