Over the years, the University of Maryland’s equine studies program has provided its students with the knowledge and hands-on experience to move on to successful careers in and around the Thoroughbred industry.

Yet the program’s success isn’t limited to its human graduates. Maryland’s Best, a 2-year-old gelding owned and trained by Javier Contreras, became the latest horse bred by the university to earn his racing diploma.

Favored at 2-1 in a field of 10, the juvenile son of Rock Slide out of the Salem Drive mare The Best Sister cruised to a 1 ¾-length victory Sept. 10 in a 5 ½-furlong maiden claiming event on Turf Festival Day over Laurel Park’s main track.

Maryland’s Best was foaled in the middle of a snowstorm on Feb. 12, 2014 at the university’s 4-acre farm a short distance from the XFinity Center, in College Park, Maryland, home to the men’s and women’s Division I basketball teams