Undefeated Daze to Test Streak in Saturday’s $100,000 Smart Halo
6YO Mare Malibu Beauty Back for More in Thirty Eight Go Go
Nominations Close Saturday for Trio of $100,000 Stakes Nov. 23
LAUREL, MD – It didn’t take long for Hillwood Stable’s Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) runner-up Post Time to get back to business upon his return to Maryland.
Laurel Park-based trainer Brittany Russell said the 4-year-old Frosted colt, part of her string at the Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md. that is overseen by assistant and exercise rider Emma Wolfe, arrived Wednesday from Del Mar.
“He got back and he has been raising hell for 24 hours so he had to go gallop [Thursday],” Russell said. “Not that I’ve traveled with loads of good horses, but he travels really well.”
Post Time finished 1 ½ lengths behind upset winner Full Serrano in the Nov. 2 Dirt Mile, his third Grade 1 placing this year to go along with stakes wins in the General George (G3), Polynesian and Jennings at Laurel and Carter (G2) at Aqueduct. He also ran second in the Met Mile (G1) and third in the Whitney (G1), both at Saratoga.
“He’s got a Grade 1 with his name on it somewhere, I just have to figure it out,” Russell said. “The [Dirt Mile] winner ran great. He had a great trip. I’m not saying we didn’t or any excuse like that, but with his running style he’s running late and it’s a short stretch. You feel like maybe if there’s a little more [racetrack] maybe he gets there but, hey, that’s horse racing. We were delighted to be second.”
Never worse than third with nine wins from 14 starts, Maryland’s 2022 champion 2-year-old is under consideration for the Cigar Mile (G2) Dec. 7 at Aqueduct.
“With how he’s doing right now it’s kind of hard to really stop on him. I feel like we’ve taken pretty good care to space his races and things like that. It’s up to him. That’s kind of how we’ve gone with him all year,” Russell said. “We got lucky and he handled everything pretty well and he kind of asked for the next step.
“Emma was training him up there [Thursday] morning and she said he was a wild animal,” she added. “So after a race like that and him traveling back home from California, for him to act like that makes me feel pretty good that we can probably think about the Cigar Mile.”
Post Time has two wins – the Polynesian and Jennings – and three seconds in five tries at one mile and has raced twice at Aqueduct, following his Carter victory with a runner-up finish in the May 3 Westchester (G3).
“[The Cigar Mile] is five weeks from his last one and the way he seemed to have traveled home, we’re going to keep that on our radar and certainly consider it,” Russell said. “And if we have to sit and wait, he’ll get whatever he needs. It’s going to be up to him. We’re just going to see how he trains and go from there.”
Post Time became a fan favorite and social media darling during the Breeders’ Cup for his good looks and personality, which regularly sees him active and playful both before and after his morning exercise.
“He’s just entertaining. He’s pure entertainment, and he knows everybody’s looking at him. He loves that,” Russell said. “Besides his quirks in the morning, it was like pretty stress-free. He’s just good, so it was a little bit less of a worry for me. Once Emma survived getting him to the racetrack every day it was fine.”
Already the richest horse the 35-year-old Russell has trained since going out on her own in 2018, Post Time became her first millionaire following the Dirt Mile. He earned $170,000 for second, pushing his bankroll to $1,167,910.
“How about that,” Russell said. “Now I need to get him to $2 million.”
While plotting a course for Post Time, Russell also leads Laurel’s calendar year-ending fall meet with 32 wins from 86 starters (37 percent). Two of those wins have come courtesy of promising 2-year-old filly Daze, who will make her next start in Saturday’s $100,000 Smart Halo.
Bred and owned by Dark Hollow Farm, Dorsey Brown, Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Davidov and Mr. and Mrs. David Schwaber, Daze is a daughter of 2002 Hopeful (G1) winner Sky Mesa and granddaughter of 2010 Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Super Saver that has overpowered rivals in each of her first two starts and is rated the 7-5 favorite in a field of seven.
“I like this filly a lot. She’s doing great. This seems like the logical next step for her,” Russell said. “I think she’s a smart filly and she’s a really nice physical. She’s a big, strong filly and I can see her taking another step. I don’t think this is all she is.”
Each of Daze’s wins have come at Laurel in front-running fashion. She scored by 7 ½ lengths in a six-furlong maiden special weight Sept. 13 and followed up with an eight-length romp over winners in a seven-furlong optional claiming allowance Oct. 5. Both wins came under Russell’s husband, jockey Sheldon Russell, who returns to ride from Post 2.
“She’s answered every question in the morning, that’s what Sheldon always says,” Russell said. “We were fond of her. When we walked her over the first time, we thought she would put on a show. You don’t know what they’re going to do second time against winners, especially if they win first time out you wonder if they learned what they needed to and things like that, but I thought she could get the job done. I’m not sure I thought she’d do it like that.”
6YO Mare Malibu Beauty Back for More in Thirty Eight Go Go
For the first time in her career, ZWP Stable Inc. and Non Stop Stable’s 6-year-old Maryland homebred mare Malibu Beauty finished her season without a win in 2023. She has more than made up for that anomaly in 2024.
After going 0-for-7 last year, Malibu Beauty has four wins from seven starts this year including her fifth and sixth career stakes victories in the Caesar’s Wish and All Brandy two weeks apart in August at Laurel Park, where she’ll go after No. 7 in Saturday’s $100,000 Thirty Eight Go Go.
The 1 1/16-mile Thirty Eight Go Go for fillies and mares 3 and up is the last of three $100,000 stakes on Laurel’s 10-race program following the James F. Lewis III for 2-year-olds and Smart Halo for 2-year-old fillies, both sprinting six furlongs. First race post time is 11:50 a.m.
Malibu Beauty finished fourth as the favorite in last year’s Thirty Eight Go Go, and is the lone horse from the eight who ran to return this weekend for what will be her 40th lifetime race and 20th at Laurel, where she owns a record of five wins, three seconds and three thirds.
“She’s great. She runs, she tries, and when things work out her way she gets really tough,” trainer Gary Capuano said. “She’s had a great year this year. Last year wasn’t so good. The timing just didn’t work out for her last year but we brought her back and she’s just run so well. What more can you say about her? She just keeps racking it up.”
In addition to the one-mile All Brandy and 1 1/16-mile Caesar’s Wish, Malibu Beauty won the 2022 Carousel, also 1 1/16 miles, and 2021 Miss Disco sprinting six furlongs at Laurel, along with a pair of stakes at Delaware Park. She comes into the Thirty Eight Go Go having run fourth, beaten two lengths, in a six-furlong Delaware allowance Sept. 19.
“She ran good last time. She’s been a little better going long, two turns, but she runs. She gives it her all every time and she’s fun to have around,” Capuano said. “She seems to be just getting better. She puts together a good race every time. You can’t say anything better than that. She’s as honest as they come. We’ve had no complaints, that’s for sure.”
Nominations Close Saturday for Trio of $100,000 Stakes Nov. 23
Nominations close Saturday for three $100,000 stakes to be run Saturday, Nov. 23 at Laure Park – the six-furlong Dave’s Friend and listed 1 1/8-mile Richard W. Small, both for 3-year-olds and up, and 6 ½-furlong Willa On the Move for fillies and mares 3 and older.
Entries will be taken and post positions drawn for all three stakes Sunday, Nov. 17.
Nominations are free and can be made by contacting stakes coordinator Eleanor Albert at Eleanor.albert@marylandracing.com or calling the racing office at 301-725-0400.