It's been a whirlwind career for Brittany Russell. In just her fifth full year of training, Russell led the annual standings in Maryland for the second consecutive season.
In 2023, Russell ended Claudio Gonazlez's six-year reign atop the leaderboard by notching 118 victories at Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course, finishing five ahead of runner-up Jamie Ness. Russell also won a race at the Maryland State Fair meeting at Timonium on her way to becoming the first female trainer to achieve year-end honors.
Last year, Russell earned 113 victories at Laurel and Pimlico, 16 more than runner-up Ness.Kieron Magee placed third with 71 combined scores at Laurel and Pimlico.
Russell overtook Ness with a phenomenal fall stand at Laurel Park, winning 54 races from 149 starters (36%) and the meet title. She sent out four winners from as many starters at Laurel on Sept. 29.
Nationwide, she registered 157 wins, 104 seconds, and 89 thirds from 655 starters for earnings of $7,672,690. Russell ranked eighth in the country in wins and 19th in money won.
Married to jockey Sheldon Russell, Brittany Russell is often joined in the winner's circle by their daughter, Edy, and son, Rye. The 35-year-old Russell conditioned 2024 stakes winners Saddle Up Jessie, Apple Picker, Regalo, Bosserati, Winterfell, Tony Eclipse, Sea Dancer, and One Man Team.
Russell's stable star was undoubtedly Post Time. Owned by Mrs. Ellen Charles's Hillwood Stable, Post Time grabbed Laurel's Grade 3 General George Stakes, Aqueduct's Grade 2 Carter Stakes, and Laurel's Polynesian Stakes. The gray son of Frosted was never off the board from nine starts in 2024, including runner-up efforts in Saratoga's Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap and Del Mar's Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, and a third-place performance in Saratoga's Grade 1 Whitney Stakes.
Following Sea Dancer's victory in Laurel's Carousel Stakes on Dec. 21, Russell credited her entire operation, including assistant trainers Luis Barajas and Emma Wolfe. She also mentioned Bosserati's win in the Maryland Million Turf Sprint as a seasonal highlight.
After stints assisting trainers such as Brad Cox, Jimmy Jerkens, Ron Moquett, and the late Hall of Famer Jonathan Sheppard, Russell ventured out on her own in 2018, winning with her first starter, Oh My, on Feb. 25, 2018, at Laurel.
Russell surpassed the $1 million mark in season earnings for the first time in 2020. She won her first graded stakes the following year when Wondrwherecraigis took the Grade 3 Bold Ruler Handicap at Aqueduct.
She won 100 of 453 races for $4,370,961 million in 2022 and reached career highs across the board in 2023 with 687 starters, 177 wins, 142 seconds, 95 thirds, and $7,999,367 in purse earnings.
Russell understandably carries high hopes into the new year. Not only is Post Time expected to return for a 5-year-old campaign, but the barn will also be represented by promising 2-year-olds One Man Team and Tony Eclipse.
One Man Team, a $285,000 yearling purchase, is unbeaten from two starts, having polished off his juvenile campaign with a 4 1/4-length triumph in Laurel's Heft Stakes on Dec. 28. A Nyquist colt out of a half-sister to Triple Crown winner Justify, One Man Team is owned by Robert V. LaPenta and Madaket Stables LLC.
Foaled in Maryland, Tony Eclipse is a homebred owned by Stuart M. Grant's The Elkstone Group LLC. By Not This Time, Tony Eclipse completed 2024 with two wins from five starts, including the restricted Maryland Juvenile Stakes on Dec. 7.
Rodriguez Leads Maryland Jockeys for Second Straight Year
Jaime Rodriguez ended 2024 as Maryland's leading jockey for the second consecutive season. With 177 victories at Laurel and Pimlico, Rodriguez bested J. G. Torrealba by 49 winners. Jevian Toledo finished third in the standings with 89 wins.
A 33-year-old native of Puerto Rico, Rodriguez won the Laurel Park winter meet by a 50-to-28 margin over Jeiron Barbosa, defeated Torrealba by a 45-to-34 mark in the summer standings, and outlasted Torrealba to take the fall title 52 to 46. Rodriguez also reigned during the Preakness meet at Pimlico with 12 victories, three more than Jorge Ruiz and Sheldon Russell.
He also dominated at Delaware Park, winning the riding title for the fourth straight season.
Rodriguez booted home the winners of 10 stakes races in Maryland. Juvenile filly Caprice captured three, including the Gin Talking on Dec. 28. Other highlights included Dean Delivers's win in the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash and Call a Play's victory in the Weber City Miss Stakes.
Represented by agent John Weilbacher, Rodriguez tied a Laurel track record with seven wins on a single program on March 17, 2023. Four were trained by Ness, who uses Rodriguez as his first-call rider.
Rodriguez attended the famed Escuela Vocacional Hipica in Puerto Rico and rode his first domestic winner on May 5, 2010, when East of Eden prevailed at Belmont Park.
Rodriguez enjoyed a career year in 2024, setting lifetime marks in mounts (1,199), wins (272), seconds (210), thirds (190), and earnings ($9,538,475). He placed fourth in the nation in victories and 23rd in purse money. It was the third consecutive season that Rodriguez rode over 200 winners.
The Laurel winter meet begins Friday, January 17, and concludes Sunday, March 30, with live racing conducted Friday through Sunday except for a one-week break March 14-16. First post time will be 12:25 p.m. ET.
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