Mandaloun filly wins MHBA yearling show
Judged best by trainer Ron Moquett
Press Release
June 30, 2026
The rich history of the Pons family’s Country Life Farm added another chapter as their filly by Kentucky Derby winner Mandaloun out of Mosler’s stakes-winning daughter Miss Nondescript was selected grand champion by trainer Ron Moquett at the 92nd annual MHBA Yearling Show on Sunday, June 28.
A total of 45 yearlings were judged by Moquett in four classes in the Maryland State Fairgrounds horse show ring in Timonium. Of his champion pick, the winner of Class IV, Moquett said: “You know the old saying, ‘presence,’ but she stood over a lot of ground. She had that look, that eye about her. She’s a very balanced horse.”
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This is the first time in the show’s long history that Country Life Farm has exhibited the show champion. The farm was established one year after the first yearling show was held in 1932. “We have won a class a couple of times, but this is definitely a lot of fun,” said the farm’s general manager Christy Holden. “That’s a nice filly that we have loved since the day she was born, and the mare produces really nice babies.” Miss Nondescript made her own mark in the farm’s history as the first stakes winner for their stallion Mosler when she won the 2020 Maryland Million Lassie Stakes.
The reserve champion ribbon went to Ann Merryman’s Cupid colt out of Grant Park, by Action This Day, the winner of Class I. Last year Merryman had took home the grand champion trophy with a Great Notion colt.
Cupid yearlings sweep of all five placements in the class. “I didn’t know any of the sires,” said Moquett, who jokingly added, “I hold a grudge against Cupid because he beat me [champion Whitmore] in the Rebel. So it’s probably good I didn’t know that. . .” But he acknowledged: “At the end of the day, we’re looking for individuals. The fact that they don’t let you know who the sires are is good.”
The Merryman family replicated their 2025 success when winning three of the four classes. Katy Voss’ Olympiad—Las Setas, by Seville (Ger) colt took Class II. Voss – Ann Merryman’s sister and Louis Merryman’s aunt – had shown the colt’s three-time stakes-winning dam in partnership with the late Bob Manfuso.
Grace and Louis Merryman’s Anchor & Hope Farm sent out their filly by former home sire Holy Boss, out of Ava Again, by Bowman’s Band, to win Class III.
Top sire of the show was Atlanta Hall Farm’s Cupid, with six ribbon winners from seven shown, led by the reserve champion.
All yearlings judged by Moquett are now eligible for the $40,000 premium award which is split annually, with $20,000 going to the exhibitors of the four show contestants who earn the most money as 2-year-olds in 2027, and another $20,000 divided among the exhibitors of the four highest-earning 3-year-old runners the next year.
Complete results are below.
CLASS I
For colts and geldings foaled in Maryland in 2025, the produce of mares covered in Maryland in 2024. (15 exhibited)
1) gr./ro.c., 5/2/25, Cupid—Grant Park, by Action This Day. Owned and bred by Ann W. Merryman, Sparks, Md.
2) Confident Cupid, gr./ro.c., 3/15/25, Cupid—Self Assured, by Tale of the Cat. Owned and bred by Hillwood Stable LLC, Washington, D.C.
3) Allen Wildfire, b.c., 4/18/25, Cupid—Renaissance Rosie, by Jump Start. Owned and bred by Ann B. Jackson, White Hall, Md.
4) gr./ro.c., 4/15/25, Cupid—Never Tell, by Imagining. Owned and bred by The Fields Stable, Palm Beach, Fla.
5) gr./ro.c., 3/14/25, Cupid—Party Nights (GB), by Lawman. Owned and bred by The Fields Stable, Palm Beach, Fla.
CLASS II
For colts and geldings foaled in Maryland in 2025, the produce of mares covered in states other than Maryland in 2024. (9 exhibited)
1) b.c., 5/1/25, Olympiad—Las Setas, by Seville (Ger). Owned and bred by Katharine M. Voss Revocable Trust, West Friendship, Md.
2) b.c., 4/5/25, Upstart—Joy, by Pure Prize. Owned and bred by Dark Hollow Farm, Upperco, Md.
3) dk.b./br.c., 3/13/25, Game Winner—Obertas, by Imagining. Owned and bred by Katharine M. Voss Revocable Trust, West Friendship, Md.
4) dk.b./br.c., 2/7/25, Independence Hall—Last Love, by Not For Love. Owned and bred by Tanterra Stables, Derwood, Md.
5) Silver Meteor, b.c., 4/18/25, Vekoma—Silver Sides, by Bandbox. Owned and bred by Dark Hollow Farm and Hillwood Stable LLC, Upperco, Md.
CLASS III
For fillies foaled in Maryland in 2025, the produce of mares covered in Maryland in 2024. (9 exhibited)
1) ch.f., 2/17/25, Holy Boss—Ava Again, by Bowman’s Band. Owned and bred by Anchor & Hope Farm Inc., Port Deposit, Md.
2) dk.b./br.f., 3/2/25, Great Notion—Royal Renege, by Broken Vow. Owned and bred by Elizabeth M. Merryman, Coatesville, Pa.
3) VALUED DARE, b.f., 5/5/25, Endorsed—Dare to Be, by Successful Appeal. Owned and bred by Hillwood Stable LLC, Washington, D.C.
4) gr./ro.f., 5/16/25, Cupid—Barouchka, by Not For Love. Owned and bred by Ann B. Jackson, White Hall, Md.
5) b.f., 1/26/25, Friesan Fire—Grecian Maiden, by Ghostzapper. Owned by Country Life Farm and Denise Burbary-Muston, Bel Air, Md. Bred by Country Life Farm and Grecian Maiden II LLC.
CLASS IV
For fillies foaled in Maryland in 2025, the produce of mares covered in states other than Maryland in 2024. (12 exhibited)
1) b.f., 1/29/25, Mandaloun—Miss Nondescript, by Mosler. Owned and bred by Country Life Farm and Miss Nondescript Broodmare LLC, Bel Air, Md.
2) ch.f., 3/28/25, Known Agenda—Fifteen Moons, by Malibu Moon. Owned and bred by Country Life Farm and Fifteen Moons LLC, Bel Air, Md.
3) ch.f., 3/28/25, Nashville—No, by Animal Kingdom. Owned and bred by Dark Hollow Farm, Upperco, Md.
4) ch.f., 1/29/25, Tapiture—Love’s Legend, by Not For Love. Owned by Jerry M. Knauer, Baltimore, Md. Bred by Cedonia Stables LLC.
5) Angel of Fortune, b.f., 4/16/25, Fortune Ticket—Nickyrocksforpops, by Rock Slide. Owned and bred by William T. Shook, Hampton, N.H.
CLASS V – Championship Class
Champion – (Class IV) b.f., 1/29/25, Mandaloun—Miss Nondescript, by Mosler. Owned and bred by Country Life Farm and Miss Nondescript Broodmare LLC, Bel Air, Md.
Reserve champion – (Class I) gr./ro.c., 5/2/25, Cupid—Grant Park, by Action This Day. Owned and bred by Ann W. Merryman, Sparks, Md.
Northview Stallion Station Get-of-Sire Trophy: Cupid (stands at Atlanta Hall Farm)
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