Members of the Maryland Racing Commission and others gathered Thursday to hear an appeal of the disqualification of Market Maven from first in the October 14 Maryland Million Classic.

Only one thing was missing: the appellant.

Market Maven’s trainer Jamie Ness and owner Gregory Gordon were not in attendance, and according to chief state steward Adam Campola, Ness, when reached by phone, informed him that they were dropping the appeal.

The decision not to purse the appeal leaves in place the steward’s decision to disqualify Market Maven and place him second, thus elevating Ain’t Da Beer Cold to first.

“After a long wait and the appeal dropped at the last minute before the hearing, it’s OFFICIAL,” Ain’t Da Beer Cold’s trainer Kenny Cox wrote on Facebook above a picture of the winner’s trophy. The Freedom Child gelding was bred in Maryland by Cox’s wife Kelly Cox and Matt Spencer and is owned by the two of them along with Bonuccelli Racing.

In the Classic, Jevian Toledo, aboard Ain’t Da Beer Cold, sent the five-year-old gelding straight to the front, and he led for most of the way. Market Maven and rider Carlos Lopez, chasing from second throughout, made a bid in the lane and ultimately prevailed by a neck after a spirited battle.

But Market Maven twice drifted in towards Ain’t Da Beer Cold (see video), who was on the inside, banging into him in the first instance while under right-handed encouragement from Lopez. That was enough for the stewards to DQ Market Maven and place him second.

For Cox, who saddled his first winner in 1987, it was the first Maryland Million win of his career.

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