Top Md. trainer Russell tries to win N.Y. prep for Kentucky Derby

It was six years ago next month when Brittany Russellsaddled her first horse as a trainer on her own. It was in her home stateMaryland, where a 4-year-old maiden filly named Oh My held on to win in theslop at Laurel Park.

Yes, the former assistant to Brad Cox, Jimmy Jerkens, Ron Moquettand the late Hall of Famer Jonathan Sheppard was victorious in her very firstrace.

As she prepares to send allowance winner Regalo into Saturday’sJerome Stakes to collect some qualifying points for Kentucky Derby 2024,Russell does so as the winningest Thoroughbred trainer last year in Maryland. Thesteady rise in her rate of success took her to nearly $8 million in earnings in2023 that put her 16th among all U.S. and Canada trainers. Her 177 wins ranked11th.

Within that successful framework, Russell could be excusedfor pausing when she was asked if women still have to deal with a glass ceilingin racing.

“I don’t think,” she said in a telephone interview thisweek. “You see a lot of women having success, right? I think it’s a good thing,and I think a lot of things have changed. Times have changed, right? I don’tthink of it that way.”

In other words, Russell is a trainer. Not a woman trainer orfemale trainer. Just a trainer. Period. She leads a full life with her husbandSheldon Russell, who is her first-call jockey, and her children, Edy, 4, andRye, 2. An ever-growing stable that keeps her busy 24-7, just like any othersuccessful trainer.

“I feel like a lot of the other women probably feel the sameway,” Russell said on Horse Racing Nation’s Ron Flatter Racing Pod.

It is a time when women are becoming more and more prominentin all walks of racing, but there have been some historic highlights lately.Jena Antonucci became the first woman to train a U.S. classic winner last yearwhen Arcangelo won the Belmont Stakes. Linda Rice set a New York RacingAssociation record in 2023 with 165 wins. And with 118 wins of her own atLaurel and Pimlico, Russell became the first woman to be Maryland’s winningesttrainer in a calendar year.

“Yes, like I’m proud of the accomplishment and all of that,”Russell said. “We work beside men and women. We just get up and do our job andtry and be the best. It doesn’t matter who you are.”

There is something else that is striking about the successof Russell. She is only 34. DeVaux is 42. Antonucci is 47. In a sport that allowssuccessful trainers to keep going long past traditional retirement age, Russelland those peers are a long way from that. She is one of the young guns thatracing needs to perpetuate its very existence.

Russell said this new generation of trainers was eager to leavethe collective professional nest.

“When I was an assistant, I was traveling around working forBrad,” Russell said. “A lot of people that I was working beside as assistantsfor other people are now out there on their own. We’re all sort of in the sameboat. It is good to see all these guys, men and women, taking the step andgoing out on their own. It’s a big step. It’s a lot to do. You get comfortablein an assistant job. You work for a good trainer, but there’s a lot of us now Isee that are doing well and having success. I’m proud to see quite a few of themdoing it.”

Russell’s repeated path to winner’s circles has comecourtesy of some high-profile clients like Michael Dubb, the lead partner for whomshe won her first graded stakes with Wondrwherecraigis in the 2021 Bold Ruler(G3). There is Al Gold, the owner of last month’s Suwanee River (G3) winnerFull Count Felicia. The blue-chip partnership of SF Racing, Starlight Racingand Madaket Stables entrusted her with Doppelganger, whose April victory in theCarter Handicap was Russell’s first in a Grade 1 race.

“I’ve worked for some good people, so I’ve had a lot of goodconnections,” said Russell, who then credited a big-time lawyer from Delawarewho also had a share of the retired Wondrwherecraigis. “Actually, I have tothank Stuart Grant, because he’s one of my clients that’s been supportive for along time.”

Happy, loyal owners and her apprenticeship with Cox beforehe became a two-time Eclipse Award winner have been the main ingredients toRussell having a career year in 2023.

“He was really getting rolling when I was with him. Lookwhere he is now. He’s one of the best trainers in the country,” said Russell,who said location also was important for her. “A lot of the clients that I havenow, maybe the horses don’t work in a certain place, and they want to send themto the East Coast. It’s been kind of good, because some of those horses thatneed an outlet that might get good somewhere else have come my way. That’s beenreally helpful with me winning races and people noticing and the phone ringing.”

Harry Papaleo, who runs an accounting firm in Delaware, camecalling with Regalo, a $280,000 colt by Maximus Mischief who takes maiden andallowance wins at Laurel into Saturday’s $150,000 Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct. SheldonRussell will have the ride in the one-turn mile from the outside post in theskimpy field of five 3-year-olds.

“Sheldon’s up, and he knows the horse,” Brittany Russellsaid. “He can go and sit wherever he needs him to. You would like to think he’sgoing to be pretty forwardly place, but I leave that up to Sheldon. I trust he’llput him in a good spot, and hopefully he fires.”

Her old boss has the favorite breaking from the rail. DrumRoll Please is even money on the morning line for Cox after finishing third ina muddy running of the Remsen (G2), going 1 1/8 miles around two turns on thesame track last month.

“Brad to me is always in my mind the one to beat, right?”Russell said, laughing. “I think we’re both pretty competitive. I know that’s anice horse.”

Then there is Rice, who has 9-5 second choice and two-timerestricted-stakes winner El Grando O lined up next to Regalo in post 4.

“Linda’s horse obviously has done nothing wrong,” Russellsaid.

Win or lose, the Russells will go back to Maryland to theirtwo children. They all are blessed with success and good health again afterSheldon, a champion jockey in Maryland and Virginia, missed nearly a year in2021-22 with a serious foot injury that required surgery.

Hopefully, that trip home will come without a cross wordabout how the race went in New York.

“We have that every once in a while,” Brittany Russell said, laughing again. “Obviouslyhe’s going to try his best all the time. Look, anything can happen when thegate opens. You can tell him to make sure with this horse, go on with him andbe forward. Then you get a stumble, and you don’t know what happens.

“At the end of the day it’s horse racing, and we’ll just haveto see how everything unfolds.”