By any measure, Great Notion continues to be the dominant force in Maryland’s breeding ranks, and this year’s Maryland Million only strengthened his claim to that title. The Northview Stallion Station standout’s progeny took three races on the card—Slewperstitus in the Lassie for 2-year-old fillies, Big Cuddle in the Nursery for 2-year-olds, and Slam Notion in the Sprint—while also adding a second and three thirds.

Those performances earned Great Notion 41 points on the Maryland Million sires’ leaderboard, well clear of runner-up Mosler (27 points). Points, awarded on a 10-5-2 (first-second-third) basis, determined the winner of The Racing Biz Maryland Million Sires Contest.

The day’s results pushed Great Notion’s lifetime Maryland Million total to 25 winners, placing him second all-time behind Not For Love, whose offspring won 38 races in the event’s history.

Great Notion’s strength was most striking in the Sprint, where he sired not only winner Slam Notion, but also runner-up Twisted Ride and third-place finisher Haileysfirstnotion, completing a rare clean sweep of the top three positions in one of the day’s marquee races. In all, seven of his runners finished in the money across the card.

Second on the list, Country Life Farm’s Mosler had a solid Maryland Million. His two winners—Worth a Dime in the Ladies on turf and Sharmin in a starter handicap—along with two other in-the-money finishes, gave him a 27-point total.

With a win and two seconds, Irish War Cry was the only other sire to crack 20 points.

Among the other sires to make their mark:

• Street Magician, a long-time Maryland mainstay, added another winner and a second (15 points).
• Several stallions—Practical Joke, Neolithic, Force the Pass, Catalina Cruiser, and Barbados—each produced a winner, finishing with 10 points apiece.

Rounding out the leaderboard were Uncle Lino, Tourist, Long River, Kobe’s Back, Frosted, Dortmund, and Candy Ride (Arg), who all had a runner-up finisher to earn 5 points. First Mondays had two third-place finishers.

In all, 23 different stallions had at least one runner finish in the money, while nine had a winner.