Trainer Moquett recovering from autoimmune disease

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Trainer Ron Moquett lived in such close proximity to Oaklawn Park that he said the roar from a massive crowd “made my water bottle shake like it was Jurassic Park” when Whitmore rallied to win the Grade 3 Count Fleet last Saturday.

“It was surreal,” Moquett said.

Moquett was confined to his residence while recovering from atypical sarcoidosis, an autoimmune disease that affects the lungs, making breathing difficult, and has precluded him from being around large groups of people. Specialists have been working closely with Moquett for nearly a month since he became ill during the Oaklawn meet, and the 46-year-old trainer is hoping to allay fears and dispel rumors of his demise.

“The hard part is over,” Moquett said early Friday from his Louisville, Ky., home. “I’m improving every day. Today is better than yesterday and tomorrow will be better than today.”

Moquett is on three medications, including high doses of prednisone, a corticosteroid. Meanwhile, his three assistants – his wife, Laura, as well as former trainer Ronny Werner and former jockey Greta Kuntzweiler – are overseeing a stable currently split among Keeneland, Churchill Downs, and Prairie Meadows.

“I’ve got the best help in the world,” Moquett said. “They’re all great horsemen in their own right and they’ve really picked me up, big-time.”

Whitmore was one of five Saturday winners for Moquett – including three on the closing-day Oaklawn card – and helped propel him into 15th place on the list of top earners among North American trainers in 2018. Moquett, who began training in 1997, is on pace to easily surpass his career highs of wins (64) and earnings ($3.4 million), posted last year.

Patients with sarcoidosis tend to suffer from fatigue, fever, and weight loss, according to the Mayo Clinic website, but the disease is curable with proper treatment.

“My long-term prognosis won’t be known until the first round of treatments are over, but I already feel a lot better,” Moquett said. “The doctors are telling me I’ll have to stay away from the barn for the next couple of weeks or so, but that’s hard for me. I’m wearing a mask to the barn when hardly anybody is around and getting a good look at the horses, and I’m still making out the set list and charts and everything.”

Moquett said he has big plans for the rest of the year, including sending a string to New York next month and continuing to make his impact felt with such stakes horses as Whitmore, Swing and Sway, Petrov, and Torrent.

“I can’t believe how many people have rallied around me, and I’m really grateful,” he said. “Like I said, I’m on my way back up. I’m chomping at the bit, you could say.”