Retired Racehorse Training Project’s 100 Day Thoroughbred Challenge: Declan's Moon

On December 1, 2012, four horses (including one former Eclipse Champion) representing four Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred farms embarked on the Retired Racehorse Training Project’s (RRTP) 100 Day Thoroughbred Challenge at Dodon Farm Training Center in Davidsonville, MD. Fans will have the opportunity to see the horses in person at the Maryland Horse World Expo in January and the Pennsylvania Horse World Expo the following month. At the end of their 100-day training period, the horses will be judged on conformation, movement, jumping ability, and trainability by guest riders, judges, and online fans. As the Thoroughbred Challenge unfolds, Sarah Andrew will chronicle the horses’ progress. Please enjoy part 1 of this series.

Declan’s Moon

RRTP’s 100 Day TB Challenge participant
"The Natural"
2002 gelding
Malibu Moon - Vee Vee Star, by Norquestor
$125,000 yrl ’03 FTMSEP
Breeder: Brice Ridgely (MD)
18-6-2-2
$705,647
2004 Champion Two-Year-Old-Colt

Following an undefeated two-year-old season in 2004, including his GI Hollywood Futurity win over future 2005 Kentucky winner Giacomo, Declan’s Moon was crowned Champion Two-Year-Old-Colt. After a victory in the GII Santa Catalina S. in his only start at three, injury took him off the Triple Crown trail. He returned to the track at four and started 13 more times before owner Samantha Siegel of Jay Em Ess Stable retired him to the Pons family’s Country Life Farm in Maryland.

After four and a half years of turnout with two other Malibu Moon champions, Josh Pons approached Ms. Siegel about entering Declan in the challenge. "Declan wouldn't let us catch him when Josh and I went out to his field for a visit," said RRTP President Steuart Pittman, "but he trotted circles around us like a dancer and then galloped to the top of the hill and struck a pose. I could hardly sleep until Josh got word back that Ms. Siegel was enthusiastically on board."

After saying goodbye to his fans at the Country Life/Merryland stallion show, Declan began his training at Dodon Farm. Click here to view his first training session video, and click here to read his Day 1 training report.

As he crosses the wire and when he returns to the winner’s circle in his last career win at Betfair Hollywood Park on July 5, 2007 (click here for video), you can see that he is a spectacular mover for any discipline; he’s a natural, and he moves better than many show horses. He has good-sized feet with nice heels, his back is a little long, and he has an elegant neck that is set perfectly on his shoulders. In addition to his elastic, swingy gaits, Steuart said that he is an extremely comfortable horse.

Declan’s Moon requires a rider to sit deeply in the saddle and put more leg on him than is typical for a Thoroughbred off the track. He willingly accepts contact from his rider’s hands, which Steuart attributes in part to the skilled exercise riders who rode him on the track. The time that Declan spent in his pasture at Country Life allowed his muscles to loosen and he exercised himself in his pasture, so he is not as tightly-muscled as many horses off the track.

Declan’s big personality matches his good looks, and he was gelded young to help make him more manageable. Now, at age eleven, after a few years of racing and a few years as the king of the farm at Country Life, he is quite a confident horse. During their training sessions, Steuart does a masterful job of teaching this strong-minded horse about the importance of reliably responding to leg and hand without unnecessarily nagging him or interfering with the horse’s natural rhythm. Click here to read Declan’s 30-day training update and click here to view his 30-day training video. Stay tuned for more updates on this exciting project.

- Sarah Andrew