Ron Moquett Seeks Derby Return With Petrov

Mega-trainer Todd Pletcher could have a half-dozen entrants in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) May 6 at Churchill Downs after starting a combined five runners the past two years.

On the other end of number crunching for the Run for the Roses is trainer Ron Moquett, who is attempting to reach the starting gate for the third consecutive year.

And just like 2015 with Far Right and Whitmore last year, Moquett is trying to do it again with only one candidate—Arkansas Derby (G1) contender Petrov.

The consistent gray son of Flatter   is outside the top 20 on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard, but a strong performance April 15 at Oaklawn Park could secure the points he needs to give Moquett his third consecutive trip to Churchill Downs.

“I am very proud of that,” Moquett said, although he added he’s not obsessed with running in the race. “It’s a reflection of the guys we keep in the barn. It’s a reflection of all the work everybody does. There’s a reason for it. It’s not luck. Whether they try to put the credit on me for finding them or whatever, that’s just a small piece, because there’s a lot of good horses that look like they have better pedigrees or better conformations that go into a lot of really good trainers' barns. I have to say it has a lot to do with the barn and the things we do here.”

Moquett, 45, grew up in the Fort Smith, Ark., area, roughly 100 miles northwest of Oaklawn, but now lives in a home near the track’s half-mile pole.

The trainer’s most successful horses to date include budding sprint star Whitmore, multiple stakes winners Far Right and Gentlemen's Bet, and Seek Gold, who at 91-1 won the $750,000 Stephen Foster Handicap (G1) in 2006.

Petrov races for Moquett (Southern Springs Stables), Catherine Adams Hutt (Rialto Racing Stables), and Sol Kumin (Head of Plains Partners). Moquett and Adams Hutt were originally 50-50 partners in the colt, purchased for $55,000 by bloodstock agent Steve Young at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co.’s June sale of 2-year-olds and horses of racing age.

Kumin purchased a 25% interest in Petrov before his fourth-place finish in the Rebel Stakes (G2) March 18 at Oaklawn, looking to get back to the classic level that saw him partner in 2016 Preakness (G1) and betfair.com Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1) winner Exaggerator  .

“Sol Kumin is a guy that does his homework,” said Moquett, who saddled his first winner in 1998 and races extensively at Oaklawn and Churchill. “I understand he’s very busy, but he has guys around him constantly looking for horses that he believes are going somewhere. He reached out through his representatives and asked us if there was any piece of something because he liked the way the horse ran.”

Moquett and Adams Hutt retained 75% of Petrov, who has never finished worse than fourth in five starts.

Adams Hutt, who has a 143-acre farm, Rancho di Rialto, about 50 miles north of Dallas, is transitioning into Thoroughbred ownership and breeding after a lengthy stint in the cutting horse business as a competitive rider and breeder.

Adams Hutt also owns Sazerac, a 2-year-old half brother to Petrov by Old Fashioned, who was purchased for $4,000 as a weanling in November of 2015 at Keeneland.

Maziette, a 5-year-old half sister to Petrov by Candy Ride  , won her debut for Moquett at the 2015 Oaklawn meeting.

Like Maziette and Sazerac, Petrov is out of Saracina, a daughter of Bertrando.

“When (Petrov) came up, he still liked Saracina,” Adams Hutt said, referring to Moquett. “The weanling that was actually at my ranch when he was growing up was quite nice—a classy horse—and I thought another Saracina would be interesting.”

Adams said Young was at the OBS sale and recommended the colt, but added, “We had already identified it as one of great interest that we really wanted to pursue.”

Through Young, Moquett said he negotiated a modest $50,000 purchase price for Petrov and immediately brought in Adams Hutt as a partner.

Petrov is among approximately nine horses Adams Hutt, a registered dietitian, has in training. All are with Moquett.

Petrov, who was beaten by two noses for second in the Rebel, continued Moquett’s sustained run of excellence the last three years in Oaklawn’s lucrative and highly productive four-race series of prep races for the Triple Crown.

In 2015, Far Right won the Smarty Jones Stakes and Southwest Stakes (G3), skipped the Rebel, and finished second to eventual Triple Crown winner American Pharoah   in the Arkansas Derby.

Whitmore skipped the Smarty Jones, then finished second in the Southwest and Rebel before running third in the Arkansas Derby.

This year, Petrov ran second in both the Smarty Jones Jan. 16 and the Southwest Feb. 20. He has already earned $229,800—roughly 4 1/2 times his purchase price.

“I’m obsessed with making money for my clients,” Moquett said. “If you told me that I could make a million dollars with this horse and not go to the Kentucky Derby this year, I would ask you where I could sign up.

“I’m competitive by nature, and that’s what drives me. ... I want to win the biggest race. And (the Arkansas Derby is) the biggest race (at Oaklawn), so it’s one of my personal goals and it’s what drives me.”