Picture perfect timing led Kayla Moyer to her candid job at Ocean Downs

by Chris Lomon

Whenever she looks through the lens, Kayla Moyer always focuses on the good.

Whether she is standing at the Ocean Downs finish line under a dark-sky downpour, capturing a captivating stretch drive or taking a candid shot on the backstretch, Moyer, who has been the official track photographer at the Maryland oval since 2024, always finds a way to produce a winning picture.

“I really enjoy the opportunity for people outside of the sport to see the connection between horsepeople and horses, just how truly special it is,” Moyer said. “There is so much that happens beyond the race and I’m grateful to be in a position to be able to share all those moments.”

Moyer found her way to the sport through her husband, driver/trainer Jared Moyer, who has accumulated nearly 950 career combined wins.

Although she had some association with horses — she did some riding growing up — the standardbred world was unknown.

“I knew absolutely nothing about the sport,” Kayla said. “I met him when I was a senior in high school and he graduated the year before. He said, ‘I race horses. Do you want to come and watch me?’”

Once she started accompanying her future husband to the races, her fascination and appreciation for the sport grew significantly.

So, too, did her admiration for horsepeople.

“I would go with him to Chicago, to Balmoral, which was his regular track,” Kayla said. “The first few times, we went to the fair races throughout Michigan. I got to see the harness racing world through his side of things – behind-the-scenes stuff and going to the barns. It was fun and it was something different than I was used to. I didn’t grow up around horses — we would ride a few on occasion — so that was kind of it. He opened up this whole new world, and it was wonderful. You realized just how hard-working and passionate people in this sport are.”

A move to the Old Line State deepened Kayla’s appreciation for the people and horses at the heart of harness racing, while also changing the direction of her education.

“Moving to Maryland changed so much for me,” she said. “It changed my schooling direction, in where I was going with things. I was in college for early childhood education, but then things started shifting towards photography.

“I had always been interested in photography through art classes, but when we moved out to Maryland, I was in the middle of college and decided to take a break from it. My husband bought me my first real camera the first year we were living out here, so that’s when I thought I would try to make something of it.”

Whenever she would accompany Jared to the barn, she brought her camera along.

There was no shortage of subject matter for Kayla to focus on.

“It was just fun pictures, taking pictures of the horses in the barn and taking pictures of Jared jogging horses,” she said. “It started out like that. It led to people asking if I did family photos, so I did that as well.

“And that’s around the time I decided to bring my camera to the racetrack, just to have fun. I started talking to Ed [Cioffioni], the longtime track photographer at Ocean Downs and Rosecroft. I think he saw the interest that I had. He told me he wasn’t sure how much longer he would be doing the photography stuff and asked me if I would like to go out on the track and get a feel for what it was like to take action photos.”

Kayla was hooked from that first click in the summer of 2023. The timing made the moment even more memorable.

Her first finish-line photograph came on her birthday, and Jared happened to win the race.

“It was that moment where I realized I could do this,” she said.

An opportunity came her way the following summer.

Cioffioni wasn’t returning to his post, meaning there was a photographer vacancy to fill.

When she was approached with an offer to assume that position, Kayla wasn’t entirely convinced she could make it work.

At the time, she had spent years staying home with her children while pursuing photography on the side, and her youngest daughter was just 6 months old.

“I was told that if I wanted the job at Ocean Downs, the job was mine,” Kayla said. “I wanted to do it, but for the longest time, I had stayed home with my kids and doing photography on the side. So, I told them I needed a little time to think about it.”

After careful consideration and the encouragement of her husband, Kayla accepted the offer.

“Jared said, ‘If you don’t take this now, someone else is going to and you might not get another chance for a very long time,’” she said. “He told me that we will figure it out. After that conversation, I took the job. And now, here we are, my third year of doing it.”

Kayla’s scope of work has grown considerably since then, her photos encompassing everything from qualifiers to race action, life in the barn to candid moments and beyond.

As for the favorite type of photo she takes, Kayla took a moment to consider her answer.

“I realized when I was going through some of my photos that it may actually be leaving the gate or at the top of the stretch going to the half,” she said.

It’s no stretch to say that Kayla is very much in her happy place when she is at the racetrack.

That dedication, along with her skills behind the camera, continues to earn rave reviews from those who compete at Ocean Downs.

For Kayla, it is another reminder that behind every photograph is a story worth telling.

“My husband is my biggest supporter and I’m glad he helped me with the decision to take the job,” she said. “It means so much to me when people share some kind words and it gives me the confidence and reminder that I can do this. It’s nice to hear it from my husband and family, but to have that reassurance I am doing something people care about… it’s a wonderful feeling.”