Jockey Sheldon Russell reeled off three consecutive wins to open Friday's card at Laurel Park and further extend his lead atop the rider standings at the calendar year-ending fall meet.
Russell captured Friday's opener with 1-2 favorite Chloe Rose ($3), a 2-year-old daughter of Twirling Candy making her second career start. He followed up with 4-year-old filly Nana's Shoes ($4) in Race 2 and 2-year-old Bullsbay gelding Maythehorsebwithu ($5.40) in Race 3.
Among his remaining mounts Friday, Russell was third with Remain Anonymous in Race 6, second with Nomo Ron in Race 7.
“It's always nice to start the day off with a win, let alone the first three. It puts you on just such a high,” Russell said. “I knew coming into the day I had a couple of live mounts. You need good trips. We got off to a good start and to be fair all my horses ran well.”
Both Chloe Rose and Maythehorsebwithu, the latter runner-up in the First State Dash Sept. 26 at Delaware Park, are trained by Russell's wife, Brittany Russell, who is tied with Claudio Gonzalez for the fall meet lead with 21 wins.
“We have a great work ethic together. I know what she wants and she knows what she's doing. She keeps me busy in the morning and feel like we both understand her horses,” Sheldon Russell said. “We're both on the same page and we've got a great team behind us. You can just see the horses are well-spotted and they're running really well right now.”
Represented by agent Marty Leonard, Russell has 39 wins at the fall meet, 13 more than runner-up Jevian Toledo with Trevor McCarthy third at 25. McCarthy and his fiancé, jockey Katie Davis, have moved their tack to New York for the Aqueduct winter meet and plan to return to Maryland in the spring.
“I'm just very pleased, riding the right horses. Marty's doing a great job for me in the mornings,” Russell said. “Just want to ride this high out through the end of the month. We've had a fantastic last two months, really. I couldn't be happier.”
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