Tag: Brittany Russell

Trainer Brittany Russell Could Make History In Race For Laurel’s Fall Title

The 2020 Thoroughbred season is drawing to an historic close in Maryland, and not just for a pandemic that paused racing for 2 ½ months from mid-March to late May.

With three racing days left in Laurel Park's fall meet that began Oct. 8, Brittany Russell and Claudio Gonzalez are tied atop the trainer standings with 22 wins apiece. Live racing returns Saturday, Dec. 26 with the Christmastide Day program of eight stakes worth $850,000 in purses led by the $150,000 Allaire du Pont (G3).

Laurel will also host live cards Sunday, Dec. 27 and Thursday, Dec. 31 before opening its 2021 winter meet Friday, Jan. 1. Post time is 12:25 p.m.

Gonzalez, a 44-year-old cancer survivor, has won 11 of the last 12 meets in Maryland dating back to Laurel's 2017 spring stand, and owns or shares 14 titles overall. He will finish with the most wins in the state for a fourth consecutive year.

Russell, meanwhile, is in position to join an exclusive club in just the third year since going out on her own. Only two women have ever led the trainer standings in Maryland – Karen Patty (1992 Pimlico Race Course spring) and Mary Eppler (2016 Laurel fall).

“It's funny, because a lot of people ask us about it. We're just trying to stay humble. We're trying to focus on the horses and walk them over there ready to go,” Russell, 31, said. “Each individual getting a win is more the goal as opposed to winning a meet. Yeah, it would be fantastic to win the meet and a huge feat for me from a career standpoint, but we're just trying to stay humble and focus on each horse.”

Russell has three starters on Laurel's nine-race card Saturday – Out of Sorts in the $100,000 Gin Talking for 2-year-old fillies, Reassured in the $100,000 Howard County for 2-year-olds, and Whereshetoldmetogo in the $100,000 Dave's Friend for sprinters 3 and up – and one starter on Sunday.

Gonzalez will run Miss Leslie in the $100,000 Anne Arundel County for 2-year-old fillies, Lebda in the Dave's Friend, Harpers First Ride in the $100,000 Native Dancer for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/8 miles and Landing Zone in the du Pont. Leading the meet in starters (116) and purse earnings ($794,790), he has three more entered for Sunday.

Russell's wins have come with just 45 starters at the meet (49 percent).

“It's fun, it's satisfying. This is why we all do it. We all work very hard and we try and have the horses as right as we can every time they walk over,” Russell said. “If I enter a horse, we're entering it because it's doing well and we're trying to put it in a spot where we think it can win. It's rewarding for the team. Everybody wants to win. That's' why we show up every day, to try and help this horses win. Hopefully we can keep it rolling.”

Russell worked for trainers Brad Cox, Jimmy Jerkens, Ron Moquett and Hall of Famer Jonathan Sheppard before going out on her own, winning with her first career starter, Oh My, on Feb. 25, 2018 at Laurel. A former amateur rider married to Laurel's leading jockey Sheldon Russell, she has seen her number of starters, winners and purse earnings increase each year, topping the $1 million mark in 2020.

Brittany Russell has 43 wins from 153 starters in 2020 led by stakes winners Hello Beautiful and Whereshetoldmetogo. She has enjoyed particular success with 2-year-olds, going 15-for-39 (38 percent) this year and finishing in the top three 31 times (79 percent).

“I was lucky this year, they just sent me some nice horses. We do have some good stock in the barn,” Russell said. “I'm not the type to try and push a horse to have them ready for when the first 2-year-old races come out. In 2020, with the first 2-year-old races kind of showing up later, they were just kind of all coming around and getting ready when those races were starting to be written anyway.

“It hasn't been anything special, just good horses and they're ready at the right time. I have good clients and they let me take my time,” she added. “When you start getting pressure and feeling anxious about getting a horse to the races that's when you start doing things and I think if you just let the come along the way they want, it just pays off.”

Sheldon Russell holds a 42-33 lead over Jevian Toledo in the race for the fall meet riding title. Toledo has won with seven of his last 16 mounts, including a four-win day Dec. 20, to close the gap.

Both riders are represented by agent Marty Leonard. Russell was Maryland's overall leading rider in 2011 and owns seven meet titles, the most recent being Laurel winter 2015. Toledo led all local riders in wins in 2015 and 2017 and five meet titles, all at Laurel, the last coming in spring 2018.

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As Laurel Meet Winds Down, Brittany Russell Winning at Over 50%

Brittany Russell had every reason to expect that she was going to have a good run at Laurel when the current meet began Oct. 8. She is a high-percentage trainer and knew that several of her horses were sitting on winning races. But the 31-year-old, who has been on her own for less than three years, never could have expected what was about to unfold. No one could have.

Through Dec. 17, Russell has won 22 of her 42 starts at Laurel, putting her winning percentage at 52% for the meet. The Dec. 17 card was canceled due to a winter storm and she had no starters on Dec. 18. While there are no known records for highest-winning percentage ever at a meet, it’s conceivable that Russell could become the first ever trainer with a sizeable sample of starters to finish a meet at a major track above the 50% threshold.

“I was optimistic about this meet, but you never think you are going to win at 50%,” Russell said. “We walk them over well-prepared. I will say that. The percentage at this point in time is, honestly, a bit crazy.”

Russell is also on top of the Laurel trainer standings by one win over Claudio Gonzalez. She has started 42 horses at the meet to Gonzalez’s 93.

Before going out on her own, she got a good education that prepared her for what has been nothing less than a meteoric rise to the top of the Maryland standings. She spent time working for Ron Moquett, Jimmy Jerkens and, most significantly, Brad Cox. Known as Brittany Trimble before her marriage to Maryland jockey Sheldon Russell, she was an assistant to Cox for more than three years, learning from a trainer who is also known for his high-winning percentage.

“Working for Brad Cox was a great job,” she said. “He was the reason I went out on my own. He left me alone as an assistant and he taught me a lot. Brad is such a good horseman. He made me want to give this a try.”

She had worked primarily in New York for Cox, but decided to call Maryland home when starting her training career. The decision was an easy one because her then fiance was among the top riders on the circuit. Like his wife, he is having a standout meet. With 41 wins, he is the leading rider at the meet.

Russell wasted no time getting started. She won her first ever race, capturing a maiden special weight event with Oh My (Medaglia d’Oro) Feb. 25, 2018 at Laurel. She only had 11 winners in 2018, but her winning rate was 24%. She had a similar year in 2019, winning 17 races from 66 starters, good for 26%. Those are the sort of percentages that owners notice.

“You win some races and then somebody else might give you a call,” she said. “That’s how it has worked for me. People show interest when they see you are having success.”

With 11 winners, she tied for ninth place in the standings at the Laurel meet that concluded Sept. 19 of that year, but was steadily building up her stable. She is up to 40 horses and her clients include high-profile owners like Mike Dubb, Sol Kumin, Robert LaPenta, Ten Strike Racing, Chuck Zacney and Hillwood Stables. She said that bloodstock agent Liz Crow has been instrumental in helping her get owners.

Russell won with her first starter at this meet and kept on going, winning with five or her first 10 starters and nine of her first 14. Her longest losing streak at the meet has been four.

“To have that kind of winning percentage, you have to be lucky,” she said. “It’s just that a lot of our horses were ready to fire at the right time.”

But a meet like the one she has had comes with a price. In horse racing, jealousy and finger pointing are never far behind when someone is having the kind of meet Russell is. That she is female, young and has been on her own for such a short period of time, only fuels the critics and skeptics.

“You just try to ignore that stuff and focus on what’s important,” she said. “We work hard. I have a really good team behind me and my husband is a big part of that. He is a rock and, naturally, rides a lot of our horses. We work really hard. This just didn’t fall into our lap. People will say she gets all the good horses and the good owners. Well, you have to work hard to get those things.”

With all the recent success, Russell is contemplating her next steps. For the first time, she has a division at Gulfstream, where she has yet to win a race from four starters. She said she has no intention of leaving Maryland, but said she would like to branch out and have a second division in a place like New York.

“I sent a few turf horses to Gulfstream this year,” she said. “It’s tough to break into a place like that. We are trying. You kind of have to do it. You have to get your feet wet and take a swing at something like that. It might be tough for a little while, but we will keep plugging along.”

She said another goal is to win her first graded stakes. She’s won five stakes in her career, four of them with the Maryland-bred star Hello Beautiful (Golden Lad).

Russell knows she can’t count on winning with 50% of her starters forever and that even the slightest slump could drop her below that mark. But she’s got a pretty good idea of which horses she will be starting the remainder of the year and is confident that she isn’t done winning. Nor has she stopped dreaming of even bigger and better accomplishments.

“Of course, I would love to have better horses,” she said. “I wouldn’t mind having another string somewhere where there’s a bit of a higher profile. I just hope we are still on the rise. I would love two years from now to look back and be able to say that we had a good 2020, but look at what we are doing now.”

 

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Jockey Sheldon Russell Scores Natural Hat Trick Friday At Laurel Park

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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Laurel Park: Hello Beautiful Annihilates Safely Kept Rivals; Eres Tu, Dontletsweetfoolya Earn Fall Festival Wins

Already a multiple stakes winner against fellow Maryland-bred/sired horses, including an 11 ¼-length romp in the Maryland Million Distaff last month, Hello Beautiful handled open stakes company with aplomb to stay perfect at Laurel Park in Saturday's $100,000 Safely Kept.

The 30th running of the Safely Kept for 3-year-old fillies was the third of six stakes worth $600,000 in purses on a Fall Festival of Racing program that included $100,000 Thirty Eight Go Go going about 1 1/16 miles and $100,000 Primonetta at six furlongs, both for females 3 and up.

Madaket Stables, Albert Frassetto, Mark Parkinson, K-Mac Stables and Magic City Stables' Hello Beautiful ($3.40) three-length triumph was her second straight win and fourth in a stakes, and improved to 6-0 lifetime over her hometown track. The winning time was 1:22.26 for seven furlongs over a fast main track.

Hello Beautiful won the Maryland Million Lassie and Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship to close her 2-year-old campaign, and had tried open stakes twice this year. She lost all chance when shuffled back at the start of the Aug. 9 Audubon Oaks then was outrun when sixth in the Sept. 5 Prioress (G2). Among her competition that day was runner-up Reagan's Edge, who resurfaced in the Safely Kept.

“She's so special. It means so much,” winning trainer Brittany Russell said. “You always want to win races, but with a filly like this it's such a relief when she runs the way she did today.”

Russell's husband, Laurel fall meet-leading rider Sheldon Russell, allowed Hello Beautiful to settle off the right hip of 2020 Charles Town Oaks (G3) winner Fly On Angel through a quarter-mile in 22.69 seconds and a half in 45.08. Russell gave Hello Beautiful her cue midway around the turn and the Golden Lad filly eagerly responded to gain separation from her rivals led by Reagan's Edge, who had moved into contention at the top of the stretch but was no match for the winner.

“Sheldon and I discussed that [not having the early lead] could possibly happen so we were prepared for it,” Russell said. “To be fair, I wasn't concerned. I knew Sheldon would take care of it.”

Reagan's Edge was second, 5 ½ lengths ahead of Landing Zone, who had a four-race wins streak snapped but was able to edge previously undefeated Lady Rocket by a head for third.

The last sprint stakes for females on the 2020 calendar in Maryland is the $100,000 Willa On the Move for fillies and mares 3 and up going six furlongs Dec. 26.

“I don't know exactly what the plans are moving forward,” Russell said. “I think we'll keep her in training but I think we'll just enjoy today and make a plan from here.”

Eres Tu Becomes Stakes Winner in $100,000 Thirty Eight Go Go
Edward Seltzer and Beverly Anderson's Grade 2-placed Eres Tu, making just her second start in 20 months, sat a perfect stalking trip before taking over the lead on the turn and turning away a late bid from On the Town to win the 10th running of the $100,000 Thirty Eight Go Go.

Ridden by Trevor McCarthy for trainer Arnaud Delacour, 2019 Rachel Alexandra (G2) runner-up Eres Tu ($11.80) ran about 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.62 to register her first career stakes win in her eighth start.

Based with Delacour at Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md., Eres Tu returned to action with a 2 ¼-length allowance victory Oct. 14 at Keeneland – her first race since running fourth in the March 2019 Fair Grounds Oaks (G2).

“She came to us at the beginning of the summer and she looked really good. It seems to me that she was a sizeable filly. She's probably 17 hands so I guess she needed plenty of time to mature, and she did,” Delacour said. “She came in in great shape so we just had to train on and never look back. The last race was very good and I was pretty confident about this race because she looks like she moved forward a little bit, so it was a good test and she lived up to expectations.”

McCarthy kept Eres Tu in the clear two wide as Awe Emma posted splits of 23.83 and 47.42 seconds. Eres Tu, whose name means 'It's you,' in Spanish, met little resistance when taking over the top spot on the turn, going six furlongs in 1:11.92. Eres Tu straightened for home in command and won by 1 ½ lengths over Lucky Stride. On the Town was third and favorite Wicked Awesome was fourth, snapping a four-race win streak.

“It was perfect,” Delacour said of the trip. “She's a pretty big filly with a long stride so she needs to be relaxed and have things her way. She was in the clear and in my opinion that's how we need to ride her.”

Delacour said he would consider bringing Eres Tu back in the $150,000 Allaire du Pont (G3) for fillies and mares 3 and up going 1 1/18 miles Dec. 26.

Dontletsweetfoolya Sprints to Impressive $100,000 Primonetta Win
Five Hellions Farm's Dontletsweetfoolya extended her win streak to four races in her stakes debut with a front-running 5 ¼-length triumph in the 33rd running of the $100,000 Primonetta to kick off the Fall Festival of Racing's stakes action.

Breaking from the middle of a nine-horse field, Jevian Toledo sent Dontletsweetfoolya ($10.40) from the gate, outrunning multiple stakes winner Never Enough Time and Giggling to lead through a quarter-mile in 22.39 seconds. Dontletsweetfoolya remained in command after a half in 45.31 and opened up in the lane when challenged by Never Enough Time to win in 1:09.79 for six furlongs.

Dontletsweetfoolya, a 3-year-old daughter of Grade 1 winner Stay Thirsty trained by Lacey Gaudet, has steadily moved up in competition this year. She graduated in maiden special weight company July 24 and won an open entry-level allowance Sept. 5, both at Laurel, then emerged from an early duel to win a second-level optional claimer Oct. 1 at Pimlico – all over older horses – by 21 ¼ combined lengths.

Never Enough Time, winner of Laurel's Alma North and Pimlico's Skipat this fall, finished second, while fellow multiple stakes winner Needs Supervision – racing for the first time since mid-March, came flying late from far back for third.

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