Md Million: Great Notion has a big day * The Racing Biz

Regardless, Great Notion remains the dominant force in Maryland breeding, and this year’s Maryland Million only strengthened its claim to that title. The Northview Stallion Station standout’s offspring won 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.

These performances earned Great Notion 41 points on the Maryland Million bulls leaderboard, well ahead 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 Competition.

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

Great Notion’s strength was most notable in the Sprint, where he produced not only winner Slam Notion, but also second place Twisted Ride and third place Haileysfirstnotion, completing a rare clean sweep of the top three in one of the big races of the day. In total, seven of his runners finished with the money on the card.

Second on the list, Country Life Farm’s Mosler had a solid Maryland Million. His two winners – Worth a Dime in the women’s competition on artificial turf and Sharmin on a starter’s handicap – together with two other in-the-money finishes gave him a total of 27 points.

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

Among the other bulls making their mark:

• Street magiciana longtime Maryland mainstay, added another winner and a second (15 points).
• Various stallions—Practical Joke, Neolithic, Force the Pass, Catalina Cruiser, And Barbados-each produced a winner, each finishing with 10 points.

Completing the rankings were Uncle Lino, Tourist, Long River, Kobe’s Back, Frosted, Dortmund and Candy Ride (Arg), who all finished second and earned 5 points. First Mondays had two third-place finishes.

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