The Thoroughbred is the State Horse of Maryland. Thoroughbreds have been racing in Maryland for at least 300 years, and they have been competing in the Olympic disciplines — eventing, show jumping, and dressage — since those disciplines opened to civilians in 1952.
At least 142 Maryland-bred Thoroughbreds are competing in the Olympic disciplines this year, and thirty-two of them qualified for the 2026 American Eventing Championships running this week at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington.
We have listed each AEC-qualified Thoroughbred below, along with their pedigrees, their breeders, and the level for which each horse qualified. You can see their career results by visiting our Results Database.
Maryland-bred Thoroughbreds have been competing at the highest levels of sport for decades. For example, two Maryland-bred Thoroughbreds competed on the US team at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles — JJ Babu and Touch of Class.
The 1974 gelding J J Babu (Babu Dancer x Polymelia (MD) (Tudorka (GB)) helped the US win Team Gold with the five-time Olympian Bruce Davidson Sr. on board. They also won the Kentucky Three-Day Event together in 1983, and he finished second at the Badminton CCI-4* and the Burghley CCI-4*, both in England. J J Babu was bred by Charles B. Eiler and born on Eiler’s farm in Germantown.
Touch of Class (JC Stillaspill), the 1973 Thoroughbred mare by Maryland-bred Yankee Lad out of Maryland-bred Kluwall (Rustom Sirdar (GB)), won the individual and team gold with two-time Olympian Joe Fargis. Touch of Class also won both the Grand Prix at the Washington International and the Grand Prix at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show in 1981, and the Grand Prix of Tampa in 1984. She was bred by Jennifer L. Rowland and born at Mikey Smithwick’s farm in Hydes.