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<\/p>\nThere\u2019s no way around it; the field in Saturday\u2019s Grade 1 Whitney Stakes is stacked.<\/p>\n
Five of the 10 older horses entered in the 1 1\/8-mile race at Saratoga Race Course have Grade 1 victories on their r\u00e9sum\u00e9s, including the last two winners of the Breeders\u2019 Cup Classic, Sierra Leone and White Abarrio.<\/p>\n
Even in the face of such opponents, the local wife-and-husband duo of trainer Brittany Russell and jockey Sheldon Russell is undeterred in sending their 5-year-old Maryland-bred Post Time to American racing\u2019s premier summer circuit.<\/p>\n
Brittany Russell knows the $1 million race in upstate New York is \u201ca big swing.\u201d She also knows Post Time has done just about everything asked of him, never finishing worse than third in 18 career starts that feature some marquee contests.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe always shows up and runs his race,\u201d she said. \u201cHe might show up and run his race, and it might be fourth or fifth this weekend, we don\u2019t know yet. But the thing about this horse is, he\u2019s gonna show up and run. So that\u2019s what gives us confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Post Time, owned by Ellen Charles\u2019 Hillwood Stable, is pretty much the king of Laurel Park. The gray son of Frosted has won all six stakes he\u2019s competed in and drawn a devoted group of followers. Taking the act on the road has proven more difficult, with his only win outside Maryland coming in the Grade 2 Carter Stakes at Aqueduct in April 2024.<\/p>\n
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But he always gives a tremendous effort. Last year, he was runner-up in the Grade 1 Breeders\u2019 Cup Dirt Mile, Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap<\/a> and Grade 3 Westchester Stakes, and third in the Grade 2 Cigar Mile Handicap and the Whitney.<\/p>\n As he\u2019s shown time and again, Post Time\u2019s outstanding closing speed allows him to make a surge at the end, picking off tiring rivals as the field approaches the wire. Even if the eventual winner is far out front, he puts in a strong bid coming down the stretch, and, until now, that has meant always finishing in the money.<\/p>\n Where does that come from?<\/p>\n Brittany Russell said Post Time has that indescribable \u201cit\u201d factor and seems to love the work of being a racehorse.<\/p>\n Post Time at Foxhall Equine in Fallston in January. (Barrie Reightler\/Maryland Horse Library)<\/p>\n \u201cIt sounds funny, but I think he\u2019s the kind of horse, like he knows when he does good, and when he walks over to run, he wants to walk over to run. He loves his job,\u201d she said. \u201cMy assistant made the comment this morning, she trained him and she said, \u2018He\u2019s really happy to be here, like he knows why he\u2019s up there right now.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Sheldon Russell said Post Time is the best horse he\u2019s ever ridden.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been on him for many of his races,\u201d he said. \u201cHis personality, there\u2019s just something, he\u2019s just different. And look, there\u2019s been a few races where I put him in spots and he\u2019s recovered, and he\u2019s just really smart about things. So it\u2019s very rare.\u201d<\/p>\n After getting a break during the winter and spring, Post Time began his 2025 campaign with a 1 1\/16-mile allowance race at Laurel in May. He went off at 2-5 and dusted the field by 13 1\/4 lengths.<\/p>\n Next came the Grade 3 Blame Stakes at Churchill Downs, facing 2024 Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan and five other competitors May 31. Much like he did in the Derby, Mystik Dan cut the corner for the stretch run to give himself a clear path home.<\/p>\n Sheldon Russell moved Post Time into a gap for his closing run, but they soon had Hall of Fame and Antiquarian closing in from the outside, forcing Post Time on the rail directly behind Mystik Dan.<\/p>\n As Hall of Fame under Jose Ortiz began to slow, jockey John Velazquez moved Antiquarian to the outside, and Sheldon Russell urged Post Time, with a little more running room, forward to try to grab second. But the outside move gave Antiquarian enough time to rally to beat Post Time by a head.<\/p>\n There was a moment when all the horses chasing Mystik Dan were grouped tightly, Sheldon Russell said, causing Post Time to pause briefly.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, I was following Johnny that day. He sort of went like he was gonna go out at the top of stretch, and I sort of had to jump his heels and dive back in,\u201d he said. \u201cHe looked like he was gonna get second, and Johnny\u2019s horse sort of recovered, got himself back together, and he kind of got me right on the line.\u201d<\/p>\n A return to Laurel in late June for the Deputed Testamony Stakes allowed Post Time to reset with a 3 1\/2-length victory, and that could be key Saturday.<\/p>\n Brittany Russell had Post Time run a stakes race at Laurel last year before heading to Del Mar for the Breeders\u2019 Cup Dirt Mile, and he followed a win on his home track with a monster effort on one of the sport\u2019s biggest stages, posting the best Equibase Speed Figure of his career.<\/p>\n Post Time wins the Deputed Testamony Stakes at Laurel Park on June 28. (Jerry Dzierwinski)<\/p>\n As with human athletes, it helps to build confidence.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like, every time we come to Laurel, it sort of picks him up,\u201d Sheldon Russell said. \u201cHe wins easily, comes back, and he\u2019s happy.\u201d<\/p>\n The Russells hope to finally get Post Time a Grade 1 of his own at Saratoga, even though they know it will be a tall order. As part of the Breeders\u2019 Cup Challenge Series, the Whitney is a \u201cwin and you\u2019re in\u201d qualifier with an automatic spot in the $7 million Classic for the horse who comes in first. Hence the all-star cast of entrants.<\/p>\n The field has elite runners who can press the pace and push for the lead (Fierceness, Skippylongstocking), those who can stalk and rally from the middle of the pack (Maryland-bred Mindframe<\/a>, who is likely to be scratched<\/a>; Highland Falls; White Abarrio), and another elite closer in Sierra Leone.<\/p>\n \u201cHopefully we\u2019re not too far back and I don\u2019t give him too much to do,\u201d Sheldon Russell said. <\/p>\n Brittany Russell feels her horse is in better position than a year ago \u201cwhen we kind of threw him to the wolves, so to speak.\u201d He\u2019s more rested after consistently racing from fall 2023 to fall 2024 and has the seasoning from taking on quality fields in New York and California.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know we can always bring him back home and win races there,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re chasing the Grade 1. It\u2019s a tough time to try and do it, but I guess I look at it like this: You don\u2019t do it if you don\u2019t try it.\u201d<\/p>\n The Grade 1 Whitney Stakes will air on Fox at 5:41 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s no way around it; the field in Saturday\u2019s Grade 1 Whitney Stakes is stacked. Five of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":311594,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4107],"tags":[1071,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-311593","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-racing","8":"tag-racing","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114958526739517561","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=311593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311593\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/311594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=311593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=311593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=311593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Post](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AFRUTLQLLBHVFO6JTJ5HFDFYFE.jpg\")
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