In the final weeks of trainer Brittany Russell’s time with the Mid-Atlantic star Post Time, the only parting gift she could give him was to send him out a winner. Back at Laurel Park on Dec. 20, the dynamic duo connected one more time in the $100,000 Robert T. Manfuso, the Maryland-bred’s 11th and final victory at home. After that triumph, all that was left was the bittersweet farewell. Russell always knew that it would hurt to say goodbye to her prized runner, who finished as a nine-time stakes winner with more than $1.5 million in career earnings. But with a promising stud career ahead at the Northview Stallion Station in Warwick, Md., Post Time’s greatest gift for his trainer could still be in store. “I’m really excited for him to stay in Maryland,” Russell said. “Hopefully, he can continue what he’s done here. He’s an awesome physical horse, and obviously he’s tough. He was a good 2-year-old and continued on and had a long career, and I’m really hopeful that he can pass that on. Hopefully, we’ll be seeing Post Time babies around these parts and everywhere else for time to come.” Touted as the next potential ace in Northview’s barn of stallions, Post Time is expected to garner massive attention in his first season at stud in his home state. He will stand for $4,000 in his first year. Mike Golden, owner of the Northview Stallion Station, said that he and Post Time’s owner, Ellen Charles of Hillwood Stable, share the goal of bolstering Maryland racing with another quality stallion. “He raced quite a bit here, and I think [Charles] liked having him race here in Maryland,” Golden said. “She’s very loyal to the state, and I think she wants to support breeding here. Just grateful to her.” Post Time’s final season on the track coincided with the final breeding season for Great Notion, Maryland’s leading sire since 2018. A fixture at Northview for two decades, the 26-year-old gradually became a transformative stallion in the region, and as of Jan. 18, his progeny had earned nearly $50 million and 118 total stakes victories. “He’s been an unbelievable stallion,” Golden said. “He could have been bred this year as well, but he’s turning 26 and it’s just time for him to relax and not risk being injured. We just want to make sure he has a nice end part of his life. He’s staying in his stall and he’s fairly sound.“ Continuing its commitment to Thoroughbred aftercare, 5 percent of Northview’s stud fees will be donated to Beyond the Wire, a Maryland-based initiative dedicated to ensuring safe retirements for horses in the state. While Golden waits for Post Time’s first crop, Northview’s six remaining stallions will have to help fill the void left by Great Notion. Golden Lad and Uncle Lino were both top-five stallions in Maryland last year. They accounted for 123 combined winners and $7 million in earnings. Golden said that First Mondays is likely the most underrated stallion in his barn, with four of his 11 juvenile starters finding the winner’s circle in 2025. Northview also will carry on with Galawi, the only Dubawi-sired stallion currently standing in the United States. Mountain Springs expands roster One year after bolstering its stallion program with the likes of Enticed and Uptowncharlybrown, Mountain Springs Farm is prepared to expand its roster again in 2026. This year, the Pennsylvania-based operation will bring in Max Player and Ny Traffic, a pair of 9-year-olds who could soon make their mark on the local breeding industry. Since purchasing Land of Believe Farm and expanding it into Mountain Springs about six years ago, farm owner Rich Miller has quickly gained a foothold in Pennsylvania breeding. Max Player, a maiden winner at Parx Racing who went on to win three graded stakes, will enter the hot barn with plenty of buzz after spending his first two seasons at stud in New Jersey. “We’ve had a lot of good response,” Miller said. “He’s a big, fancy-looking thing – dark black and about 16.1 hands. Real racy.” Ny Traffic, the son of Cross Traffic who won races at Parx and Penn National, spent his 2025 breeding season at Timber Ridge Farm in Pennsylvania and will make the short journey to Palmyra to begin anew at Mountain Springs. Coming off a 2025 season in which they both finished among the top four earning stallions in Pennsylvania, Enticed and Uptowncharlybrown will begin their second campaigns at Mountain Springs with ever-improving reputations in the state. Enticed, who began his breeding career in Kentucky, produced 63 winners in 2025 and now stands for $5,000. In a barn that also includes stallions Eastwood and Fugitive, Miller said that Beverly Park, sired by Munnings, is one worth watching in the future. Cross Traffic committed to Virginia West Virginia-based breeder John Funkhouser said Friday that Cross Traffic will not stand at Mt. Airy Farm in Millwood, Va., for the 2026 breeding season. Plans between the O’Sullivan Farms owner and the prospective stable fell through at the last second, but Funkhouser remains dedicated to standing the proven stallion in Virginia, a massive boon to the state’s improving breeding program. “It would be a lot easier for me to [stand] Cross Traffic in West Virginia, but I am looking to kind of spread my wings and take advantage of the things that Virginia is offering,” Funkhouser said. “They’re growing, too, and if I can be successful with Cross Traffic, then I’d like to do it again in the near future with another horse of his caliber or maybe even better.” Cross Traffic gained immediate traction as a stallion when entering stud at Spendthrift Farm in Kentucky in 2015. A Grade 1 winner in six starts on the track, he was the leading freshman sire in 2018. His progeny have since earned 44 total stakes victories. Funkhouser purchased Cross Traffic with the help of syndicate and hopes to take advantage of Virginia’s burgeoning statebred program, one of the few in the country that has grown in recent years. Back in West Virginia, Funkhouser and O’Sullivan Farms remain strong. While he and his brother, West Virginia state Delegate Joe Funkhouser, continue lobbying for racing innovations in the state, including a state-certified program, his stallions should be as productive as ever. Curlin’s Honor, who produced 17 winners from 33 runners last year, is set for another season alongside Aldrin, a similarly productive stallion coming off his own top-10 season in the state. They will be joined again by My Prankster, a son of Into Mischief who stood his first season in West Virginia in 2024.