t’s Hammertime breezes bullet five furlongs

LAUREL, MD – Don’t look now, but the wife-husband, trainer-jockey combination of Brittany Russell and Sheldon Russell sent out another promising runner, this time in Friday’s featured seventh race at Laurel Park, a first-level allowance with a $62,500 claiming option for 3-year-old fillies at six furlongs.

Sent away the 2-1 second-choice in the wagering, High Paf ($6) remained unbeaten from two starts after fending off favored Shkhara Fire’s rail-skimming late rally to prevail by a neck in 1:12.05.

High Paf made a sharp impression in her career debut over the same course and distance in a maiden special weight on Feb. 22. After hopping at the start and being bumped, she pulled her way forward to stalk in between horses, cruised to the leaders in upper stretch, then hesitated when changing leads. High Paf then drifted inside the pacesetter and showed determination when rallying up the fence to prevail by a nose.

She showed a hint of greenness in that race besides the obvious talent.

“She’s always been one we’ve really liked,” Sheldon Russell said. “We loved her the first time we ran her. Every time we’ve worked her from the pole, she’s been lights-out, but she’s always a step slow from the gate.”

It was more of the same this afternoon, as High Paf didn’t break the best. Sheldon Russell soon maneuvered her to the outside, and High Paf quickly made ground, ranging up four wide to stalk the pace as She’s No Uncle and Lift the Lid set fractions of 22.80 and 46.41 seconds.

Riding confidently, Russell guided High Paf to the lead as Shkhara Fire waited behind horses inside. High Paf appeared on her way to a clear victory, but Russell had to get after her in the final eighth.

“Even when she breaks slow, [in the] second or third jump, she’s head down going straight to work,” Sheldon Russell continued. “I don’t know if she just anticipates the break, or it’s the noise or whatever, but she just balks a little bit. She gets herself together. I felt like she was traveling very sweetly around the bend. I hate to inherit the lead that soon. I don’t think she was slowing down. She was just waiting on horses.”

Chickin Lickin finished third with She’s No Uncle, Lift the Lid, Atlantis Queen, Sassafrassness and Youmakemecharlie completing the order of finish.

Bred by Wynnstay Inc. and H. Allen Poindexter, High Paf is by McKinzie and is the first foal out of the winning Tapit mare Emrata. Her second dam was stakes-placed sprinting from the family of Grade 1 winner I Want Revenge.

A $60,000 weanling buy, High Paf was purchased for $90,000 as a yearling before being bought by Michael Dubb for $80,000 at Fasig-Tipton Midlantic last May. High Paf campaigns for Dubb and Michael Caruso.

Shkhara Fire was an excellent test for assessing High Paf’s quality. The winner of last year’s Maryland Million Lassie, Shkhara Fire finished second in the Xtra Heat Stakes here on Jan. 25 and finished third, beaten only a length in a high-level allowance on March 8.

“It’s scary,” Sheldon Russell said about High Paf’s turn of foot. “Hopefully, she just keeps getting better and chills. I’ve ridden a lot of fillies like this. The more they race, the better they get.”

Around the track:

*Stakes-winner It’s Hammertime continued preparations for his 3-year-old debut as he breezed five furlongs in a bullet 1:00.40 on Friday morning. The Maryland-bred Vekoma colt, a half-brother to stakes-winner Shackled Love, won his first three starts last year including Delaware’s Rocky Run Stakes at one mile.

In his final start of 2024, the Gary Capuano-trained It’s Hammertime ran fourth as the odds-on favorite in Aqueduct’s Nashua Stakes on Nov. 2. “He had a shin that was bugging him a little bit,” Capuano said last month. “He’s not a real big horse, but he put on some weight. He looks really good. He’s happy.”

*Sea Dancer, unbeaten in two stakes starts since moved to dirt, breezed a half-mile in 49 seconds flat for trainer Brittany Russell. A Mastery half-sister to Grade 1-winning turf performer Johannes, Sea Dancer was purchased for $150,000 by Tom Ryan’s SF Racing at Keeneland last November. Transferred to Russell’s barn, Sea Dancer won her dirt debut, the Carousel Stakes on Dec. 21 before taking the Nellie Morse with a career-best 90 Beyer on Feb. 15.

On a recent visit to Russell’s Laurel shed row, Sea Dancer happily nuzzled two goats that Russell obtained to calm another nervous horse in her care. “The goats weren’t meant for her,” Russell said after Sea Dancer captured the Nellie Morse. “She just ended up really enjoying the company. She’s a high-strung, high-energy filly.”

*Up at Fair Hill, multiple Grade 2-winning turf sprinter Future Is Now worked six furlongs in 1:12.40 over the All Weather surface for trainer Mike Trombetta. Future Is Now completed her 4-year-old campaign by prevailing in Keeneland’s Grade 2 Franklin Stakes on Oct.13.