Six-Furlong Sprint Marks Comeback for Champion Seven’s Eleven
Summer Meet Leader Jaime Rodriguez Rides Three Winners Saturday
LAUREL, MD – Since going out on her own in 2018 trainer Brittany Russell has seen her operation grow every year, reaching career highs of 687 starts, 177 wins and $7.99 million in purse earnings in 2023.
The 34-year-old Russell also won her first Grade 1 race last year, already owns several meet titles at both Laurel Park and historic Pimlico Race Course, and in 2023 became the first woman in Maryland history to lead the state in annual wins.
It is a strong resume, to be sure, with plenty of good things still on the horizon. One of them she hopes comes this weekend, when she sends out Michael Dubb and Morris Bailey’s Prince of Jericho in Sunday’s listed $150,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash.
Russell has the distinction of finishing second in the De Francis each of the past three years with now-retired Wondrwherecraigis, who crossed the wire first in 2021 – the last time the race held graded status – but was disqualified to second for interfering with Jalen Journey near the wire.
In 2022, Wondrwherecraigis returned from a trip to Dubai for the Golden Shaheen (G1) to finish 2 ¾ lengths behind seven-time stakes winner and Grade 3-placed winner of more than $944,000 Beren. Last summer, at the age of 6, he was beaten a half-length by Lightening Larry, whose six stakes wins included the 2022 Chick Lang (G3) at Pimlico.
“I have got to win this race eventually. This race is driving me mental. This is a race that, I know that I haven’t been training very long, but I feel like I’ve been so close. ‘Craig’ actually won the race and then he got taken down. I want this race so bad,” Russell said. “It just wasn’t meant to be with ‘Craig’, but maybe Jericho can do it for us.”
Wondrwherecraigis, in whom Dubb also had an ownership stake, was retired last fall with a record of eight wins, three in stakes, four seconds, one third and $540,170 in purse earnings from 20 starts. His former stablemate, Prince of Jericho, has earned all five of his career wins at Laurel topped by the 2023 Spectacular Bid and Concern. He has also placed in six other stakes including second in last spring’s Chick Lang.
This year Prince of Jericho won his Feb. 24 season opener sprinting 5 ½ furlongs in an optional claiming allowance at Laurel, where he was second to multiple stakes winner Coastal Mission in the April 13 Frank Whiteley. Third behind graded winners Super Chow and Prevalence in the May 18 Maryland Sprint (G3) at Pimlico, the 4-year-old Munnings colt comes back three weeks after finishing second to another graded winner and De Francis foe, Dean Delivers, in the Alapocas Run at Delaware Park.
“He’s a good dirt sprinter. He’s doing great, he’s happy, and he came out of that Delaware race good. We’ve had the Dash on our radar and unfortunately the races are only 20 days apart,” Russell said. “These are horses that run hard every time so it might be hard for them to wheel back but I feel like he can really handle it. He’s a strong colt and he’s a good-doing horse. I’m actually hoping that maybe it helps us a little bit.”
In the 2021 Bold Ruler (G3), one start after being taken down in the De Francis, Wondrwherecraigis gave Russell her first career graded-stakes win. She won the 2023 Carter (G1) with Doppelganger and has enjoyed success on one of the state’s biggest stages with filly Hello Beautiful, one of only seven horses with three Maryland Million wins since its debut in 1986.
First run in 1990, the De Francis honors the late former president and chairman of Laurel and Pimlico and boasts an illustrious roster of winners that includes Housebuster – who beat fellow Hall of Famer Safely Kept in 1991 – and sprint champion counterparts Cherokee Run, Smoke Glacken, Thor’s Echo and Benny the Bull.
“Being here based in Maryland, it’s a big deal. I haven’t been doing it very long, but I’ve had a couple pretty good sprinters. I hope it’s this year with Jericho,” Russell said. “We’ve had him from the beginning and he’s just been super special for us and he’s been a lot of fun. I would love for it to be him.”
Champion Seven’s Eleven Set to Make Comeback in De Francis Dash
The Cottonwood Stable’s homebred Seven’s Eleven, Maryland’s champion 3-year-old male of 2023 that has gone unraced since mid-February, is entered to make his comeback in Laurel Park’s listed $150,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash Sunday.
It will be the first race for the gelded 4-year-old son of Bandbox since finishing second behind multiple graded-stakes winner and Met Mile (G1) runner-up Post Time in the Feb. 17 General George (G3) at Laurel, where Seven’s Eleven has a record of six wins, three seconds and a third from 13 starts.
Then trained by Carlos Mancilla, Seven’s Eleven went 6-for-10 during his championship season including wins in the Maryland Million Sprint at the De Francis’ six-furlong distance and seven-furlong Howard and Sondra Bender Memorial. After going to the sidelines following the General George he was sent to Nesvil Hernan Bailon, a 44-year-old fledgling trainer that had previously worked for Cottonwood’s Steven Reed.
“The owner wanted to give me a chance because I’ve been breaking babies for him and he said, ‘I know you’re good with the horses and you’re just starting,’” Bailon said. “He said, ‘I know you take care of the horses,’ and that’s why I got the horse here. I hope to see him run good in my name on Sunday.”
Bailon, who has started 49 horses since last summer with all five of his wins coming this year, has breezed Seven’s Eleven three times at Delaware for his return. Each of the last two have been extremely sharp half-miles in 47.80 seconds June 29 and 47.40 July 13, fastest of 51 and 42 horses, respectively.
“I wanted him to have something left for the race but he took off a little bit in his last couple of works,” he said. “He’s doing so good.”
Seven’s Eleven will race for the first time with blinkers on and have the services of regular rider Angel Cruz, who has been aboard in 11 of his 15 starts and five of his six wins including both stakes.
“I like to see him racing on the front, so we’ll see,” Bailon said. “He knows the track and he has run well there and won there so that helps a lot. We’ll see on Sunday. I hope he runs good. I really love that horse. He’s training so good and that’s all you can want.”
Notes: Jockey Jaime Rodriguez added three wins to his summer meet-leading totals Saturday with Margie’s Fun Son ($3) in Race 2, Cap’n Dusty ($5.20) in Race 3 and Yatta ($3.80) in featured Race 7, an entry-level allowance for fillies and mares 3 and up. Trained by Graham Motion for Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and unraced since finishing third in the Jimmy Durante (G3) in December at Del Mar, Yatta surged through an opening along the rail in mid-stretch to capture her 3-year-old season opener in 1:41.18 for 1 1/16 miles on a firm Exceller turf course … Massie Land and Cattle’s Go Take Charge ($9.60), trained by Katherine Nielson, came with a rally on the far outside to turn back favored Mike the Bomb and win Race 3, a one-mile lifetime claimer on the Bowl Game turf course featuring nine amateur riders. Go Take Charge was ridden by Jose E. Vargas, who exercises horses for Motion, also won aboard Go Take Charge in his only prior mount July 27 at Delaware Park.