HOT SPRINGS -- More than a year before Whitmore was retired last fall, his trainer Ron Moquett bought another potential thoroughbred star named Osbourne.
Moquett's namesake for rock musician Ozzy Osbourne is one of 12 entrants in the $750,000 Grade III Southwest Stakes for 3-year-olds over 1 1/16 miles at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort scheduled Saturday. It's Oaklawn's second of four Kentucky Derby qualifiers.
Whitmore's five-year run as a local and American sprint champion perhaps obscures his early success as a route racer. Through the first four months of his 3-year-old campaign, Whitmore showed enough promise around two turns to qualify for the 2016 Kentucky Derby. Whitmore was Moquett's second Derby starter, but more significantly, he became the longtime Oaklawn trainer's first Breeders' Cup and Eclipse Award sprint champion. He was also the last horse for more than five years to so much as enter a Derby qualifying race from Moquett's Oaklawn barn, named two months ago for Whitmore.
Osbourne, owned by Moquett, Floyd Sagely's Estate, Mark Tauber, Keith Johnston and Robert LaPenta, became the latest when his second-place finish in the $400,000 Springboard Mile at Remington Park in Oklahoma City earned four Derby points on Dec. 17.
Moquett said his lack of young potential route stars was caused by an absence of opportunity rather than will.
"I guess you could ask Coach [Rick] Pitino why he hasn't been to the Final Four lately," Moquett said, referring to the hall of fame basketball coach. "I guess if you don't have players of that ability, it's hard to get there."
As Whitmore approached the apex of his storied run, Moquett developed atypical sarcoidosis, a chronic illness that can lead to multiple physiological limitations.
"I'm not blaming anything on being ill, but when I was sick, the trickle-down of horses to me stopped," Moquett said. "I wasn't able to go to the sales. I wasn't able to do what I need to do to get horses. As soon as I started feeling better, my opportunity started getting better."
Moquett has adjusted to his ailment, but his purchase of Osbourne did not require other investors. Moquett bought him from Kentucky breeder Amy Boulton but said he couldn't remember what he paid for the yearling.
"I forget," he said. "It was either $11,000 or $15,000."
Four Southwest entrants sold at public auctions for between $70,000 and $350,000.
Moquett said Boulton spoke highly of Osbourne.
"She's a very good horseman, and she told me I needed him, so I bought him," he said. "She just said, 'He's a rock star.' ''
Osbourne is a gelded son of 2014 Southwest winner Tapiture and maternal grandson of Rock Hard Ten.
Contentment seems to come easily for Moquett, who works with his wife Laura Moquett, assistant trainer Greta Kuntzweiler and employees he praises. His happiness does not hinge on the performance of Osbourne or any other horse from his barn in specific races. He said he wants what is best for family, friends and horses.
"Greta and Laura are the best that are out there in my opinion," Moquett said. "They carried me when I wasn't doing good, and we moved on. It's all worked out, so onward and upward. If you have a good outfit, that's how it works. I'm proud of that. I do my part, and they do theirs. I know I wouldn't want to do it without them, that's for sure."
Moquett's previous Kentucky Derby starters were Whitmore and Far Right, who finished second in the 2015 Arkansas Derby to Triple Crown champion American Pharoah. He said success for Osbourne or any other horse in the Southwest alone would be adequate for their connections.
"The only thing we're thinking about is not trying to get the Kentucky Derby," Moquett said. "We're running because there's a $750,000 purse. The rest of that stuff is ancillary. The people who spend $200,000 or $300,000, a lot of money for breeding and all that stuff, they don't say, 'At all cost, we've got to go the Kentucky Derby.' They say, 'Man, if we win the lion's share of $750,000, we win.' Their stallion fee is already set.
"I think the Derby always overwhelms what's happening right now. The fact of the matter is, there are a lot of good races before the Derby that will be a person's lifetime great race. We've allowed that to be watered down by the Road to the Kentucky Derby. Winning the Derby would be an honor, but winning the Southwest will also be an honor."