March/April 2024 Issue

Page 68 March/April 2024 EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN Please submit your events to steph@eastcoastequestrian.net. Please provide event name, location, city, state and contact information for inclusion at no cost in East Coast Equestrian's calendar. Attention Event Organizers! Russell Makes Maryland History as Leading Trainer Maryland Jockey Club Press Office Brittany Russell's meteor- ic career trajectory reached a historic height December 31 at Laurel Park when the 34-year- old, in just her fourth full season, became the first female to lead the annual trainer standings in Maryland. Russell formally clinched the year-end title held since 2017 by Claudio Gonzalez when Point Dume ($3.20) cruised to a pop- ular 11-length triumph in Race 3, a six-furlong maiden claimer for 2-year-olds. He is owned by SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Diane Bashor, Robert Masterson, Waves Edge Capital, Catherine Donovan, and Tom Ryan. The win gave Russell 118 victories at Laurel and Pimli- co Race Course, finishing five ahead of runner-up Jamie Ness. It was also her 37th of the cal- endar year-ending fall stand and broke a tie with Ness for her fifth career individual meet training title. Married to Maryland cham- pion jockey Sheldon Russell, with whom she shares a daugh- ter, Edy, and a son, Rye, Russell set season highs across the board in 2023 with 687 start- ers, 177 wins, 141 seconds, 96 thirds and $7,996,867 in purse earnings. Nationally, she ranked 11th in wins and 16th in money won. “I'm just so proud of the team. It's a huge accomplish- ment for everybody and they've been working so hard,” Russell said. “Now that everybody pointed it out to us we've been keeping an eye on it the last two days, and it feels really good to seal it up.” Russell's incredible year saw her win 15 stakes in Maryland, earning multiple wins with Hybrid Eclipse and Prince of Jericho. She also earned her first career Grade 1 triumph with Doppelganger in the Carter Handicap at Aqueduct and sent out Full Count Felicia to a popular victory in Saturday's Suwannee River (G3) at Gulfst- ream Park. “Obviously the highlight would have been 'Dopp' winning the Grade 1. That was a pretty big accomplishment on the year,” she said. “We've had a lot of good horses and a lot of good winners this year. Shoot, (Satur- day) Felicia won a Grade 3 for us so honestly to end with one like that is pretty huge, too. That felt pretty good.” Russell has been part of history before, becoming just the fourth woman to win a Maryland meet training title last spring at Laurel and then the first to do it more than once after leading the standings at Pimlico's Preakness Meet and Laurel fall. Russell's introduction to horses came at a young age while working at local farms growing up in Peach Bottom, Lancaster County, Pa. The one-time amateur rider turned to training and worked for such trainers as Brad Cox, Jimmy Jerkens, Ron Moquett, and late Hall of Famer Jonathan Sheppard before going out on her own, winning with her first starter, Oh My, Feb. 25, 2018 at Laurel. After winning a combined 28 races with 112 starters in 2018 and 2019, Russell's break- through year came in pandem- ic-shortened 2020 when she won with 46 of 159 starters and surpassed the $1 million mark in season earnings for the first time. Russell went 71-for-274 in 2021, topping $2.8 million in purses earned and winning her first graded-stakes, the Bold Ruler (G3) at Aqueduct with Won- drwherecraigis on the day before her son was born. She won 100 of 453 races and banked $4.37 million in 2022. “It's like relationships that have grown, like with Stuart Grant for instance. I have a lot of horses for Stuart. Now I have horses for Mike Repole. Mike Dubb has always been in the barn. Now the SF, Starlight group with Madaket,” she said. “I have loads of them. Even some of my Maryland-based clients that are huge for my business and been so supportive, all of them. It's awesome. I couldn't do it without them.” Grant, a prominent Dela- ware-based attorney, founded The Elkstone Group, which counts both Hybrid Eclipse and recently retired Wondrwhere- craigis among its many stakes winners. “I know a lot of people who have spent 15 or 20 years becom- ing an overnight success. Nobody sees all the years that she put in with all the top trainers when she was a gallop girl and an assistant trainer and really learned and spent the time when it was a little bit tough,” Grant said. “She was with Brad Cox, but not neces- sarily when Brad was cruising at where he is now. “She's been doing this 15, 16, 17 years. It's not an overnight success,” he added. “But when she did go out on her own I think she had a good, solid foundation. She's really easy to work with. She communicates well. She's very hands-on with the horses. She knows all of her horses, where they are and what's going on.” From her husband to assis- tants Luis Barajas and Emma Wolfe in Maryland and Sam Hopkins at Gulfstream, Russell lavishes praise on the entire team for her success. “[Sheldon] does so much. I think the other thing is that we've had a lot of success, yes, but we've enjoyed doing it together. Honestly, it's what makes it fun, having Sheldon and my crew there,” she said. “I have a good crew. It's a crew that I really enjoy working with and I think that goes a long way. We spend a lot of hours at the barn, we spend a lot of hours at the races. It's huge.” (Continued on page 71)