TIMONIUM, Md.--It was a Merryman family sweep at the 91st annual Maryland Horse Breeders Association Yearling Show held on Sunday, June 29.
Championship presentation: (left to right) MHBA president Kent Murray, Mike Pons, Ann Merryman, Michael Merryman with Great Notion–Sista colt.Judge David Ingordo selected as grand champion a Great Notion colt bred and owned by Ann Merryman., and Reserve champion was Louis and Grace Merryman's filly by Bourbon Courage, bred in the name of their Anchor and Hope Farm.
The show's champion is out of Sista, a winning Two Punch mare Ann Merryman co-bred and trained, then retired to her broodmare band.
Sista is the dam of four named foals, including Maryland Million Sprint Turf winner Fiya, who made headlines when Merryman sold the 3-year-old gelding for $400,000 at the Wanamaker's sale in 2020.
The son of Great Notion took the blue ribbon in the first class of the day, for colts and geldings foaled in Maryland, by Maryland stallions.
"First impression is a powerful thing on a horse, and it's funny, the horse that ended up being the champion, he was one of the first horses I saw," said Ingordo. "Everybody else after him was either going to be up or down, and he remained at the top. You're looking for athletes, and athletes come in all shapes and sizes."
THE RESERVE champion, out of the Quiet American mare Fullerene, earned the first-place ribbon in Class III, for fillies by Maryland stallions.
She is a full sister to California stakes winner and Saratoga graded stakes-placed juvenile Raging Whiskey.
Her sire Bourbon Courage stands at Anchor and Hope Farm.
Adding to the Merryman family success was Katy Voss' Global Campaign colt out of Tanca, by Polish Numbers, the winner of Class III.
Voss -- Ann Merryman's sister and Louis Merryman's aunt -- has had enormous success over the years at the show, many in partnership with the late Bob Manfuso.
Her class winner is a half-brother to millionaire Cordmaker and three-time stakes winner Las Setas, both prior show participants, as was the mare herself.
A Girvin filly out of the Jump Start mare Sexy Reasons (Arg) took Class IV for owner/breeder John Davison.
Last year, Davison had a three entries, including an Honor A. P. colt who placed third in his class.
Just hours after the Girvin filly earned her ribbon, the Honor A. P. colt, now named Romeo, won the Bashford Manor Stakes at Churchill Downs.
Top sire of the show was Northview Stallion Station's nine-time Maryland stallion of the year Great Notion.
All four of his entrants earned ribbons, led by the grand champion.
A total of 35 yearlings were judged by Ingordo at the Timonium Fairgrounds horse show ring and are now eligible for the $40,000 premium award which is split annually, with $20,000 going to the exhibitors of the four show contestants who earn the most money as 2-year-olds in 2026, and another $20,000 divided among the exhibitors of the four highest-earning 3-year-old runners the next year.
Ingordo added his name to a who's who list of judges since the show began in 1932.
"It's obviously an honor because I looked at the list and I said, 'I'm not a shadow of most of these people,' " he said. "So it was very cool, and it was an honor. It's neat to be part of it, 91 years, right? Awesome."
