Hello Beautiful Returns Saturday, Mine Not Mine Getting a Break
Double Carryovers, Stronach 5 for Return of Live Racing Friday
Maryland Jockey Club OTBs Open for Wagering Saturday, June 20

LAUREL, MD – Coming off his healthiest and most productive season in half a decade, journeyman Sheldon Russell came into 2020 with both confidence and momentum. Once the calendar flipped, he maintained his spot among Maryland’s leading riders – until the world stopped.

The coronavirus pandemic put the state’s live racing on pause from mid-March until returning in late May at Laurel Park, and the 32-year-old Russell hasn’t wasted any time getting back in the groove.

Entering the fourth weekend of Laurel’s summer meet Russell sits atop the rider standings with 12 wins, two ahead of Jevian Toledo – who, like Russell, is represented by agent Marty Leonard – and Trevor McCarthy.

Russell is named in eight of nine racing when live racing resumes Friday, June 19 and has calls in seven of nine races on the Saturday, June 20 program. Post time both days is 12:40 p.m.

“All I can really say is last year we got back up and rolling and things were good. I was getting on the right horses and then, unfortunately, we were forced to shut down,” Russell said. “If anything, it just makes me feel good that once we got back up and started again I sort of picked up where we left off.

“I’m getting the support from some good trainers and riding some really nice horses,” he added. “It’s easy to say it makes my job easier, but the trainers I’m riding for are winning so it certainly helps.”

A winner on the May 30 re-opening program, Russell has won with 11 of his last 25 mounts (44 percent), including a stretch of six-for-11 (55 percent) June 6 and 8. He registered hat tricks on both days, and had two more on Laurel’s most recent card June 13.

Married to trainer Brittany Russell, who is tied for third with four wins from just 10 starters, Russell is 12-for-41 (29 percent) overall and ranks second in purse earnings with $284,604, less than $40,000 behind McCarthy.

“We sat on the sidelines and, of course, you’re anxious to get back, But, at the same time we’re running two days a week, and to be able to win two or three races a day it puts you in a good spot,” Russell said. “I’m very fortunate. My agent is doing a great job. Our other rider, he’s winning races, too, so he’s definitely doing something right.

“We’ve got the support from really good outfits and luckily enough the horses coming off the shelf have all been running well. It helps that Brittany’s barn is on fire right now, so that gives me a push, as well,” he added. “I’m very fortunate. I’m happy to be back and riding, I’m happy to be healthy, and I couldn’t have asked for a better start.”

Maryland’s leading rider in 2011 who owns seven individual meet titles, five coming at Laurel, Russell had the unique pleasure of winning aboard Russeldoingthings in a waiver maiden claimer June 8. In addition to sharing his name, the 3-year-old Golden Lad colt is trained by his wife.

“Everyone thinks there’s a story behind it, but to tell you the truth he was actually named before he came into Brittany’s barn. Brittany would love to be the one to say, ‘Let’s name this one, he’s working good,’ but he was already named,” Russell said. “It’s just funny how it worked out and that he’s in Brittany’s barn. He ran great.”

Russeldoingthings also benefitted from a great ride by Russell, who saved ground early breaking from Post 3 in a bulky field of 13 before weaving through traffic to take the lead in the stretch, then pull clear and finish up in hand to capture his unveiling by 1 ½ lengths in the six-furlong sprint. It wasn’t altogether surprising for the connections, whose 3-year-old stablemate Wondrwherecraigis also debuted with a victory March 13 then came back with an allowance triumph June 6.

“To be fair, he always works good in the morning. His workmate was Wondrwherecraigis and Craig won the maiden special weight and then wheeled back and won the a-other-than, so we were sort of waiting for [Russel’s] time to shine,” Russell said. “It was nice to see him run like that because those stablemates were working heads up against each other, and to see how Craig ran we were very excited to run Russel. He’s a cool horse and that was a special win for us.”

Hello Beautiful Returns Saturday, Mine Not Mine Getting a Break

Less than three weeks after being beaten as the favorite in her long-awaited seasonal bow, multiple stakes-winning 3-year-old filly Hello Beautiful gets the opportunity to bounce back against six rivals in an open allowance sprint Saturday, June 20 at Laurel Park.

First by design and then by circumstance, Madaket Stables, Albert Frassetto, Mark Parkinson, K-Mac Stable and Magic City Stable’s Hello Beautiful went unraced for nearly six months before her June 1 return in a Laurel turf sprint. Though she had run well in two previous tries on the grass, finishing second both times, it was also her first time facing older horses.

“We’re just going to toss it. She came out of the race really well and she hasn’t missed a beat since,” trainer Brittany Russell said. “I think that wasn’t fair to her. Hopefully we get her back on her surface and we see the same filly that we saw last year.”

Hello Beautiful stalked the pace for three furlongs and circled the turn before dropping back to seventh in the 5 ½-furlong dash, won by stakes winner Money Fromheaven. She wound up less than a length behind sixth-place finisher Princess Adira, who also returns Saturday.

“You kind of want to hope that she was going to run as good on the turf because she had run good enough before, but you’re talking 3 [year olds] and up, proper turf horses, and she showed us that she just wasn’t interested in that,” Russell said. “I guess it’s better to find out now. I wish she would have run better, but it’s horse racing. Sometimes, you have to walk them over and see where you are.”

Hello Beautiful drew Post 3 in the entry-level allowance for straight 3-year-old fillies with Russell’s husband, summer meet-leading rider Sheldon Russell, back aboard. Hello Beautiful has won her last three dirt starts, including the Maryland Million Lassie and Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship to cap 2019.

Meanwhile, Cash is King, D J Stable and LC Racing’s Mine Not Mine, placed in back-to-back Laurel stakes to open his 3-year-old season, is getting some time off following his 2020 debut.

Second in the Miracle Wood and third in the Private Terms behind recently Triple Crown-nominated Lebda, Mine Not Mine ran 10th of 11 in a one-mile first-level allowance May 31. He will be looked over by trainer Bruce Jackson at the Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md.

“He’s just having about 50 days. He came out with a little issue, no big deal. He’s going up to Fair Hill and hang out for a bit, do the Aquatred, and hopefully we’ll see him back in the fall,” Brittany Russell said. “The group, cost isn’t a concern with them and there he’ll get everything he needs so hopefully he can bounce right back and be what we were hoping we could be.”

Double Carryovers, Stronach 5 for Return of Live Racing Friday

Carryovers in the 20-cent Rainbow 6 and $1 Super Hi-5 and the weekly national Stronach 5 wager are all on the menu when Laurel Park resumes live racing with a nine-race program Friday, June 20.

First-race post time is 12:40 p.m.

There will be a carryover of $13,742.18 in the Super Hi-5 for Friday’s opener, a six-furlong waiver maiden claimer that attracted a dozen fillies and mares 3 and up. The Rainbow 6 begins in Race 4 with a carryover of $6,253.64.

Friday’s card includes a pair of maiden special weights for fillies and mares 3 and older on the main track. Race 3, at six furlongs, is topped by the 3-1 program favorite of Colts Neck Stable entry Be Present and Tutti Benvenuti, each also entered Saturday at Delaware Park, and Bernadette the Jet, a $425,000 daughter of 2015 Triple Crown champion American Pharaoh. Race 6, going 1 1/16 miles, drew a wide-open field of nine led by Somewhere Golden and stablemates M.J.’s Lady and Sing Along Suzy, all first time starters.

The co-features are back-to-back second-level optional claiming allowance events for 3-year-olds and up. Race 7, at one mile, attracted 11 hard-knocking older horses with a combined 59 career victores led by Bobby G, 10-for-17 lifetime at Laurel making his first start since being moved to trainer Jonathan Maldonado.

Race 8 is a six-furlong sprint that includes stakes winners Runaway Lute and Follow the Dog as well as stakes-placed Perfect Cover, Hall Pass and Tappin Cat. Also entered is Premier Star, winner of successive seven-furlong sprints over the winter at Gulfstream Park before suffering his first career loss when sixth last out in the Sam F. Davis (G3) Feb. 8.

Both Races 7 and 8 are part of the Stronach 5, preceded by Races 8 and 9 from Gulfstream Park, before the sequence wraps up with Race 3 from Santa Anita Park. Offering an industry low 12 percent takeout and $100,000 pool guarantee, the multi-race, multi-track Stronach 5 is a $1 minimum wager. If there are no tickets with five winners, the entire pool will be carried over to the next Friday.

The Maryland Jockey Club serves as host of the Stronach 5.

Maryland Jockey Club OTBs Open for Wagering Saturday, June 20

Six of the Maryland Jockey Club’s off-track betting facilities will be open for wagering starting Saturday, June 20.

The Boonsboro, Frederick, Greenmount, Perryville and Timonium OTB facilities in Maryland as well as Riverboat in Colonial Beach, Va. will each open at 10:30 a.m. Saturday Laurel Park will offer a nine-race program starting at 12:40 p.m.

Saturday is Belmont Stakes Day at Belmont Park, a 12-race program that begins at 11:45 a.m. The Belmont Stakes (G1), leading off this year’s restructured Triple Crown schedule, goes off as Race 10 with a scheduled post of 5:42 p.m.

Horseshoe Casino OTB and MGM National Harbor Racebook both remain closed to the public, along with MJC racetracks Laurel Park, Pimlico Race Course and Rosecroft Raceway.