Ain’t Da Beer Cold, off at 36-1, led most of the way and then engaged in a lengthy and spirited battle with Market Maven in the lane. Market Maven prevailed by a neck but drifted over and bumped his rival inside the eighth pole.

The stewards’ decision set off a raucous celebration among the connections: Cox, his wife Kelly, Matt Spencer, and Bonuccelli Racing.

“It’s awesome,” Spencer said. “It’s been my dream. It’s better than the Preakness. You know, I mean, obviously everyone wants to win the Preakness. But to win this race is just incredible.”

“It’s a whole story. ‘Ain’t the beer cold” is the Oriole thing, you know. Right? Brooks Robinson. These guys are die-hards. So all of it to come around this year, it’s pretty special.”

“Ain’t the beer cold” was longtime Baltimore Oriole announcer Chuck Thompson’s victorious catchphrase and the inspiration for the Freedom Child gelding’s name. Spencer, in fact, was wearing an “ain’t the beer cold” t-shirt in the winner’s circle.

Ain’t Da Beer Cold has been something of a project horse for Cox, talented enough to place in three stakes previously, including a half-length defeat to Nimitz Class last December, yet inconsistent enough to be 0-for-9 this year with only two-third-place finishes to his credit. In part, Cox said, that’s because of a persistent quarter crack, a problem Cox believes he’s solved.

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“Three or four months ago, I said, ‘Let’s put glue-on shoes on him,’” Cox said. “He’s had the glue-ons and we’ve been doing that, and his feet have never bothered him since that day. So that was a big thing.”

In today’s contest jockey Jevian Toledo, a four-time winner on the day, and Cox independently came to the same conclusion regarding strategy.

“So I said to those guys, I said, ‘I want to send him,’” Cox said. “But I want to leave it up Jevian because he rides them, and I believe that they do their job. They know what they’re doing. First thing, he walked out and said, ‘I don’t care what you say: I want to send his horse and put him on the lead.’”

Though there was other speed in the race, Cox and Toledo theorized that perhaps Ain’t Da Beer Cold would get brave on the lead. That proved prescient.

Toledo sent his mount straight to the front from the seven-hole, and they led by a couple of , lengths after a half-mile in a manageable 48.40 seconds and by a single length after three quarters in 1:13.30 with Market Maven his nearest pursuer. In upper stretch Market Maven, with Carlos Lopez up for trainer Jamie Ness, bid to even terms and seemed likely to pull away easily..

But the five-year-old Ain’t Da Beer Cold, who in several recent races had appeared faint-hearted, was all heart today, fighting it out with that rival all the way to the wire, who inched away to cross the wire a neck in front before the disqualification.

“I don’t know what to say,” Spencer said. “The horse was all heart.”

Ain’t Da Beer Cold, a homebred for Spencer and Kelly Cox, now has six wins and $383,559 in earnings from 32 career starts. His win snapped an 11-race losing skein.

As for the future? Nobody much cared in the minutes following the race.

“To overcome everything and for my owners, they’re diehard Maryland people,” Cox said. “They’re upset for me what we’re not winning, and I’m upset for them, you know, so it’s a team working together to have everything fall in place after a lot of miserable Maryland Millions for me… If he would have been second without even an inquiry or objection or anything, I would have went home almost like I’d won Maryland Million because he’s a homebred.”