Md. Million: Ness hopefuls include national wins leader
Kerness K rides 10-race heater
Ted Black
October 22, 2026
If you want to see the winningest horse in the country this weekend, check out the 41st Jim McKay Maryland Million Day card Saturday at Laurel Park.
That’s when trainer Jamie Ness will send out Kerness K, already a 10-time winner this season, along with several other runners, including two in the Classic.
Ness, who has won over 5,100 races with earnings over $115 million from over 20,000 starters to this point in his career, will send out the razor sharp Kerness K (4-5) in the third race, a starter handicap going seven furlongs and offering a $50,000 pot.
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A Maryland-bred, four-year-old son of Great Notion that began his career for his current trainer, Kerness K has won 10 straight races, nine in a row since Ness claimed him for $7,500 from trainer Brittany Russell on March 13 at Laurel. Russell had claimed Kerness K from Ness for $40,000 fifteen months earlier.
“We actually bought this horse as a yearling and raced him as a two-year-old,” Ness said of Kerness K. “We lost him to Brittany Russell later that year, but then when he was in for $7,500, we decided to claim him back. He’s always been a calm, sound horse. He doesn’t win by much, usually a head or a nose, but the key has been finding the right spots for him. He’s won 10 races in a row and we’re hoping that he can get another one on Saturday.”
Kerness K has won 10 of 12 starts and over $210,000 this year and now sports 13 wins and over $320,000 from 21 career outings. He won at second asking at Delaware Park as a two-year-old, tried three stakes, and then eventually was offered for a tag that winter when Russell took him for $40,000 in December 2024.
Not only has Kerness K won nine straight races for Ness since the claim (and 10 straight overall), but the Great Notion gelding has also been favored in eight of them, seven times at odds-on. That’s a streak likely to continue on Saturday in the starter event.
Four of Kerness K’s victories were in narrow photo finishes, but he also sports a trio of open-length victories and Beyer speed figs as high as 89. Ness had actually cross-nominated him for the $100,000 Maryland Million Sprint, which is one race earlier on the card.
“I nominated him for the Sprint just to see who else was going in there,” Ness said. “That race looked like it would come up tough, so I decided on the starter event. This horse has been doing very well in those starter optional events since we got him back. That’s really been the key to his [10-race] win streak, he’s been spotted where he can win.”
Kerness K is the first of seven horses that Ness could potentially saddle on Maryland Million Day, although six are likely to go into the gate. Ness also has two horses nominated for the Classic, the Nursery and the finale, another starter for fillies and mares. Eclipseness drew into the main body of the $100,000 Maryland Million Nursery for two-year-old males, but Metallican, who is undefeated in three career starts, would need four scratches to find his way into the race.
Ness, however, will send out two runners in the featured $150,000 Maryland Million Classic. Market Maven (6-1) and In the Dance (15-1) both will be looking to foil the repeat bid of Barbadian Runner (2-5), who looms one of the shortest priced favorites on the card. Market Maven actually crossed the wire first in the 2023 edition of the Classic only to be disqualified and placed second behind 36-1 outsider Ain’t Da Beer Cold.
“Both of my horses are coming into the race really good,” Ness said. “I mean, if Barbadian Runner runs his race, he’s going to be very tough to be beat. But I can only speak for my horses and they’re doing well. Market Maven won the race three years ago but got disqualified. which, whatever. I claimed In the Dance two starts back and he’s doing good. But it will be tough to beat Barbadian Runner.”
Then in the finale, the $50,000 Maryland Million Starter for fillies and mares at seven furlongs on the main track, Ness will send out Yes Picnic (4-1) and Sunflower State (8-1) and both figure to make their presence known. Yes Picnic, a three-year-old daughter of Catholic Boy, is a half-sister to Kerness K and her performance could validate the trainer’s belief in her dam, No Picnic, and possibly punctuate a very successful afternoon.
“I always liked her dam,” Ness said of Yes Picnic’s dam No Picnic, a daughter of Include who recorded eight wins and banked over $250,000 during her racing career. “She was a real tough, honest mare on the track. That’s really the main reason I wanted Yes Picnic. She’s only a three-year-old, but she’s definitely matured a lot over the last year. Sunflower State is also coming into the race really good. I think they’re both going to run well on Saturday.”
For good measure, Ness’s daughter, Emma Ness, 12, is scheduled to compete in one of the pony races early on the program. Three years ago Emma Ness won the pony race and Ness also won one of the Maryland Million races.
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