Making his stakes debut, Admirals War Chest won the 30th Maryland Million Classic for owner/breeder Stephen Sinatra and partner Bill Niarakis. It was the first stakes win for trainer, Corby Caiazzo, and first Maryland Million win for jockey Taylor Hole.

Other surprise results were Jack's in the Deck nipping odds-on favorite Ben's Cat in the Sprint, and first-time starter Corvus leading all the way in the Nursery.

Ellen Charles and trainer Rodney Jenkins selected a gray/roan Malibu Moon filly out of the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic fall yearling sale, spending $200,000 for the second foal out of the stakes-winning Lion Hearted mare Aspenglow. She was one of 13 sold by leading consignor Ellen and Herb Moelis' CandyLand as agent.

The sale's top-priced colt was David and JoAnn Hayden's Maryland-bred son of Bodemeister out of homebred stakes winner Safe Journey. Peter Angelos paid $190,000 for the half-brother to stakes winner Joy.
Both proved good buys. Charles' filly, Shimmering Aspen, became a three-time stakes winner of $415,660. Angelos won seven races, four stakes, with his purchase, O Dionysus, before selling him four years later at the Midlantic December sale to steeplechase owner Irv Naylor for $135,000. O Dionysus retired with earnings of $452,824.

Pennsylvania owner/breeder George Strawbridge had four homebreds win graded stakes over a four-day span in the United States and England in October. Pennsylvania-breds Holiday Star and Kitten's Point won Keeneland's Sycamore-G3 and Dowager-G3, Oct. 15 and Oct. 18, respectively, and Flying Officer captured the 2-mile British Champions Long Distance Cup-G2 at Ascot Oct. 17. On the same day, Canadian-bred colt Lucky Lindy captured the Hawthorne Derby-G3