This week we will run a series of 10 Maryland Million Moments, indelible moments that have helped to define the meaning of Maryland’s Day at the Races. Here, sophomore filly Kosmo’s Buddy beats the boys in the 2008 Turf Sprint, a win that was only a sign of greatness to come in her second career.

Kosmo’s Buddy showed the courage and determination of a champion on the Maryland Million stage. In the 2008 Maryland Million Turf Sprint at Laurel Park, the then-3-year-old Outflanker filly took on the boys — and won. Yet bigger things were still down the road.

Despite being bumped at the break in the Turf Sprint, she recovered quickly, slipped into a stalking position, and came three to four wide in the stretch. Under steady right-handed urging from jockey Eric Camacho, she refused to yield, wearing down the 2-5 favorite Natural Seven in the final strides to win by a nose in 1:02.84 for 5 ½ furlongs on firm turf.

Trained by Tim Salzman and bred and owned by Arnold and Adam Smolen, Kosmo’s Buddy entered the race as a talented but unheralded sophomore. The Turf Sprint marked her second stakes victory, and though it would prove to be the final win of her 37-race career, it was her most memorable. She retired with a record of 5 wins, 8 seconds, and 9 thirds, earning $298,095 — a durable, hard-trying Maryland-bred who more than held her own against seasoned male sprinters that day.

Her story, however, didn’t end at the finish line. Years later, Kosmo’s Buddy found even greater fame in the breeding shed. Her 2015 son Knicks Go, by Paynter, was bred in Maryland by Angie Moore and her daughter Sabrina of GreenMount Farm. He went on to become one of the most dominant racehorses of his generation, winning two Breeders’ Cup races, including the Classic, and earning 2021 Horse of the Year honors.