Chasing The Claiming Crown: Trainer Frank Russo Enjoying Career Year At Age 79

At the age of 79, Frank Russo is enjoying his time in the sun. That doesn't mean he's content to just watch the time go by.

Far from it. The Brooklyn native is in his 46th year training Thoroughbreds, a career that has touched parts of six decades dating back to the mid-1970s. This week it has brought him to seasonable South Florida, where he will send out two strong contenders in Saturday's Claiming Crown at Gulfstream Park.

The 23rd edition of the Claiming Crown is being held for a 10th consecutive year at Gulfstream. Created by the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association in partnership with the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, the Claiming Crown rewards and pays tribute to the horses and horsemen that provide the foundation for day-to-day racing programs at tracks around the country.

No one exemplifies that more than Russo, who is taking part in the $810,000 Claiming Crown for the second straight year. Both his horses, Belgrano in the $90,000 Canterbury Tom Metzen Memorial and Aequor in the $75,000 Express, earned automatic berths with Preview Day victories Oct. 10 at Laurel Park.

“We're all set. It's going to be nice,” Russo said. “I've got five horses. I walk down the barn and this is the first time [where] they all won their last race, and some of them have won their last two. It feels good to look at that after dealing with lesser horses.”

Post time for the first of 11 races Saturday is noon.

Peace Sign Stables' Belgrano has developed into the best horse Russo has ever trained. Claimed at Gulfstream for $16,000 out of a third-place finish in February 2020, the 7-year-old War Front gelding has six wins, three seconds and two thirds in 17 subsequent starts including stakes victories in the 2020 Virgil 'Buddy' Raines and Aug. 28 Rainbow Heir at Monmouth Park.

Belgrano finished seventh of 12 in last year's Canterbury, beaten 4 ¼ lengths by Fiya. He enters Saturday riding a three-race win streak, rallying for a 3 ¼-length decision at Laurel to earn a second straight bid.

“We got lucky with him. He came back about a month after we claimed him and then just went on winning starter races and stuff like that. He's a nice horse,” Russo said. “He's as honest as they come. I really like him.

“What I liked about him is, I looked at his back numbers, his closing numbers, and that he could run 1:10 and change. He wasn't doing it and I said there's got to be a reason,” he added. “We took him back and found a couple of nicks and crannies with him and we got him to go. He really turned out to be a nice horse.”

Morning Moon Farm's Aequor, a gelded 6-year-old son of Flatter, has won each of his last two starts, by a nose Sept. 19 at Monmouth and a neck at Laurel. Both came in similar fashion, sitting just off the early lead before digging in late to prevail.

Aequor has been to the Claiming Crown before, finishing ninth in the 2019 Jewel for previous trainer Oscar Gonzalez. Russo haltered him for $6,250 out of a fifth-place finish Jan. 21 at Gulfstream, and he has gone 4-0-2 in 10 starts since.

“He's doing great. He was another horse that had a couple of problems, minor problems,” Russo said. “I saw some numbers on him that I liked and he just went on to be a nice horse, a very good horse. He's getting stronger as he gets older. We found some nicks and crannies with him, too, and when I say that, those are problems that a horse has that could be solved, within reason. There's other problems they never solve. But, in his case, we found a couple nicks and he's doing well now.

“It's nice,” he added. “It's great when you can claim a horse for $6,200 and he's got a shot to run in something like this.”

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Russo has enjoyed a similarly steady existence in racing, going back to his days visiting the New England fair circuit as a teenager.

“I grew up with horses all my life,” he said. “My uncle owned horses at Narraganset and I used to go and watch them. My father used to leave the butcher shop and go up there and gamble. They'd go to Bowie. It was something to do. I started with horses when I was about 14 or 15 and got to the racetrack when I was 17 and that was it.”

Russo worked as an exercise rider, galloping horses at Aqueduct and Belmont Park, and ultimately eschewed a more lucrative career opportunity in favor of staying with the game he has grown to love.

“I just stayed with it all my life. It just took priority. I could have been a millionaire in the printing business, but I let it go to be with my horses,” Russo said. “It was a family business – me and my brother. It had to be 40 years. We came down to Florida originally with the business and I brought a couple of horses down, and from that point I just stayed more and more with the horses. Finally my brother bought me out and that was it.”

Though Equibase statistics only date back to 1976, Russo said he ran his first horses in 1974 at old Calder Race Course. “I didn't even win a race,” he said.

“But, we had a couple of seconds and we enjoyed it. That's when I really got indoctrinated to the horses.”

To date, Russo has 138 wins and $2.1 million in purse earnings from 1,730 lifetime starters. His 13 wins this year from only 37 starters mark a career best; he went 12-for-132 in 1985. His $349,365 in purses earned are, by far, a personal best.

“We only have five [horses]. It's enough for now but we're looking to claim a couple more,” Russo said. “I've got a friend of mine that I've trained for for years and I've got a couple of my own, and we share the expenses and just go along with it. If something pops up, we're doing good.

“It's not so much me, it's always the horses,” he added. “I attribute a lot to exercise riders and the horse itself. There's so much you can do with a horse. After 50 years of training you should be able to find something. I'm not going to go another 50, that's for sure.”

Russo credits exercise rider Finley Bishop with having a large hand in the trainer's success this year.

“I've got to say, without him it's rough,” Russo said. “He's probably the best I've ever seen. I've known him since we're young, since we came down to Florida in '74. He was with [trainer] Harry Benson. He's very good on a horse, he can tell you something and he listens, and that's important.

“I've got a farm up in Pennsylvania. Usually I take the winter off and I turn horses out on my farm up there, and this year I didn't do it. We just came back down,” he added. “I love it.”

The Canterbury, a five-furlong turf dash for 3-year-olds and up which have started for a claiming price of $25,000 or less in 2020-21, drew an overflow field of 13 including 2020 third-place finisher Harry's Ontheloose, Oct. 2 Laurel Dash winner Xy Speed and also-eligible Gran Malbec.

For 3-year-olds and up that have run for $8,000 or less lifetime, the six-furlong Express attracted nine horses, among them Guaco, riding a three-race win streak, and Kalu, most recently third in the Sept. 18 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash (G3) at Laurel.

Based on their qualifying wins, Russo comes to the Claiming Crown with confidence in each of his entries.

“I'm really excited about it,” he said. “I thought we might win or be close in both races, but the way they won I was very happy. They came out of it great and they're training well, so I don't have no excuses. They're either going to run or not run.”

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Laurel’s Claiming Crown Preview Winners Among Nominees For Claiming Crown Races At Gulfstream

All five of Laurel Park's Claiming Crown preview race winners as well as several Maryland-based horsemen are among the nominees for the 23rd Claiming Crown to be held Saturday, Dec. 4 at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

Laurel Park in Laurel, Md., played host to Claiming Crown Preview Day Oct. 10, where preview race winners each earned an automatic berth to the Claiming Crown as well as a $2,500 stipend toward travel costs to South Florida.

Stablemates Belgrano and Aequor, trained by 79-year-old Frank Russo, were respectively nominated to the $90,000 Canterbury for 3-year-olds and up which have not started for a claiming price of $25,000 or less in 2020-21 sprinting five furlongs on turf and $75,000 Express for 3-year-olds and up that have run for a tag of $8,000 or less lifetime going six furlongs.

Peace Sign Stables' Belgrano has strung together three consecutive wins including the Rainbow Heir Aug. 28 at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., in his preview day prep. The 7-year-old gelding ran seventh in last year's Canterbury. Also among the 33 nominations is Winning Stables, Inc.'s Xy Speed, neck winner of the Oct. 2 Laurel Dash for trainer Gerald Bennett.

Morning Moon Farm's Aequor edged Sevier by a neck in the Express preview, his second straight win. Formerly based at Gulfstream, the 6-year-old gelding ran ninth in the 2019 Claiming Crown Jewel. Sevier, from the barn of trainer Jamie Ness, is also one of 24 Express nominees.

Travin Stables' Lookin At Roses rebounded from a fourth behind Magic Michael in the Grade 3 Greenwood Cup to win Laurel's preview for the $85,000 Rapid Transit, a seven-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds and up that have started for a claiming price of $16,000 or less in 2020-21. Ness-trained Magic Michael is nominated to the $125,000 Claiming Crown Jewel as well as Laurel's $100,000 Richard W. Small Nov. 27, both going 1 1/8 miles.

Other Rapid Transit nominees include Silent Malice and Grade 3 winner Tusk. Silent Malice is one of three horses nominated to Claiming Crown races by Laurel-based trainer Rodolpho Sanchez-Salomon, along with Foggy Dreams ($95,000 Tiara) and Calypso Ghost ($80,000 Glass Slipper). Trainer Mary Eppler, based at historic Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md., also nominated Tusk to the Jewel and $95,000 Emerald, Seranade a Kitten to the Tiara and Heza Kitten to the Emerald.

Bruno Schickendanz's Mandate, trained by Robert J.W. Johnston, is among 50 nominees to the 1 1/16-mile Emerald on turf for 3-year-olds and up which have started for a claiming price of $25,000 or less in 2020-21. The 4-year-old Blame gelding won Laurel's Emerald preview by 3 ½ lengths and followed up with a victory in the one-mile Artie Schiller on the grass at Aqueduct Nov. 13.

You Must Chill and Just Whistle, respectively third and fifth in Laurel's Emerald preview for trainers Ness and Michael Matz, are also nominated, as is Ten Strike Racing's Caribbean, a 7-year-old Australia-bred gelding claimed for $40,000 out of his most recent start Marc 19 at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., by Laurel-based trainer Lacey Gaudet. Caribbean is also nominated to the Jewel.

Team Valor International's Beantown Baby, from the Fair Hill, Md. barn of trainer Arnaud Delacour, was a popular neck winner of Laurel's Distaff Dash preview, her third win from five 2021 starts. The $90,000 Distaff Dash at five-furlongs on turf is for fillies and mares 3 and up that have started for a claiming price of $25,000 or less in 2020-21.

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Russo, Vargas Combine To Win Two Claiming Crown Preview Races At Laurel

Trainer Frank Russo and jockey Jorge Vargas Jr. combined to win two of the five Claiming Crown Preview races held Sunday at Laurel Park in Laurel, Md., while jockey Mychel Sanchez also had two preview wins.

The five preview race winners earned an automatic berth to the 23rd Claiming Crown, to be held Saturday, Dec. 4 at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla. This will be the 10th consecutive year Gulfstream will play host to the event. All preview winners will receive $2,500 toward shipping costs.

Russo and Vargas won the first two preview races on the program.

Morning Moon Farm's Aequor, an 11-1 shot trained by Russo and ridden by Vargas, drove past the 1-9 favorite Sevier inside the final 20 yards to win the six-furlong Claiming Crown Express preview for 3-year-olds and up, covering six furlongs in 1:10.11. Less than 30 minutes later in the Claiming Crown Canterbury preview for 3-year-olds and up, Vargas rode the Russo-trained Belgrano to victory over a firm 5 ½ furlong turf course in 1:01.98 after drawing away from the 4-5 favorite Noble Commander down the stretch.

Sanchez also won consecutive preview races and had three wins on the afternoon.

He won the Distaff Dash preview aboard Team Valor International LLC's Beantown Baby, covering a 5 ½ furlong turf course in 1:01.96 for trainer Arnaud Delacour. He came right back to score a length victory aboard the Guadalupe Preciado-trained Lookin At Roses in the Rapid Transit preview, covering seven furlongs in 1:23.58.

The final Claiming Crown preview race, the Emerald preview, went to Mandate, who covered the 1 1/16 mile course in 1:40.97 while winning by 3 ¼ lengths under jockey Andrew Wolfsont for trainer Robert Johnston.

Nominations for the Claiming Crown are due November 8.

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Lopez Caps Record-Tying Day With Win On Vigilantes Way In Miss Liberty

It may be true that records are made to be broken, but jockey Paco Lopez keeps tying his own one at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J.

Lopez matched the record he set twice in 2014 by winning seven races on Saturday's 14-race card, capping the performance with a half-length victory aboard Vigilantes Way in the $100,000 Miss Liberty Stakes.

Lopez, well on his way to an eighth Monmouth Park riding title, won five consecutive races spanning the fifth through ninth races before matching his track record in the co-featured Miss Liberty Stakes aboard the heavily-favored Vigilantes Way.

Trained by Shug McGaughey, Vigilantes Way rebounded from a loss in the Grade 1 Diana in her last start. Prior to that, she won the Grade 3 Eatontown Stakes at Monmouth Park on June 20.

In the co-featured $100,000 Rainbow Heir Stakes at 5½ furlongs on the turf, Belgrano found an opening along the rail early in the stretch and burst through for a two-length victory. It marked the first time 79-year-old trainer Frank Russo saddled a winner in a six-figure race.

But the day belong to Lopez, the runaway leader in the Monmouth Park jockey standings with 72. Isaac Castillo, who rode Belgrano to victory, is second with 40 winners.

“I think I was very lucky today,” said Lopez, who won the Grade 3 Charles Town Oaks aboard R Adios Jersey on Friday night. “You look at these last couple of horses I won with and they handled the track. It's a little wet both on the dirt and turf. I'm lucky this horse (Vigilantes Way) likes this grass course.

“When I looked at the horses I was riding today I felt good. I felt quite a few had a shot. I am very grateful to do this again. I guess the next thing I have to get to is eight wins here.”

Vigilantes Way covered the mile and a sixteenth over a turf course listed as “good” in 1:43.14, having just enough to hold off the late-running Miss Teheran. It was another 1½ lengths back in third to Counterparty Risk.

The victory was the sixth in 14 career starts for the 4-year-old daughter of Medaglia d'Oro, who was bred and is owned by the Phipps Stable. She is 2-for-2 on the Monmouth turf course.

“I was pleased with the way she ran,” said McGaughey. “It was a little bit different. She was stuck there for a minute but Paco Lopez worked out of it and we beat a nice filly who was second.

“I think she likes the quick turns. She does like Monmouth but the quick turns seem to suit her, because she has run good at Pimlico. She handles about any type of turf course. So when it rained a little, it didn't bother her. I think we'll try her in the Violate Stakes (Sept. 25 at Monmouth Park) next.”

Vigilantes Way returned $3.20 to win in the field of six fillies and mares, three and up.

Belgrano, who won the Virgil “Buddy” Raines Stakes at Monmouth Park a year ago, earned his fourth win in six starts on the track's turf course. The 7-year-old gelding was coming off a six-length win in handicap company at a mile, with the shorter distance proving to be no issue. He finished two lengths ahead of Grateful Bred, who was a neck better than The Connector.

Belgrano returned $8.40 to win in the field of nine 3-year-olds, flashing under the wire in 1:02.52.

“After this race, I think I can say for sure that this is the best horse I have ever had,” said Russo, who has been training since 1976. “I thought it might be tough for him at the end, especially going shorter, but he sort of got his way at the beginning of the stretch when the rail opened. It was a perfect trip.

“It's a great feeling. This is the biggest race (purse-wise) I have ever won. I was worried about the rain. If it was off the turf we were out. So I'm happy it stayed on the grass. I think he is at his best right now. Could not be happier with him than I am right now.”

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