Romeo kisses them goodbye in first baby race of the year

LAUREL, MD – Sheldon Russell handed a pair of goggles to a railbird after Saturday’s sixth race at Laurel, a third-level allowance with a $55,000 claiming option at 1 1/16 miles.

“That’s my doctor,” the jockey said. “He fixed my shoulder.”

Russell had every reason to be in a giving mood. Minutes before, his top mount, reigning Maryland-bred Horse of the Year Post Time, dissected a solid group of horses in his 2025 debut.

“It’s the best three-other-than I’ve ever rode,” Russell said. “It was a blessing that we still had this condition.”

Millionaire Post Time, a Grade 2 winner with three Grade 1 placings on his record, raced with blinkers for the first time.

“I [was] hanging onto him [last year] because in behind horses, he travels so good,” Russell said about the equipment change. “It’s when the real running starts, and I start angling him out, and he gets open daylight, he [fools] around. He leans on horses.”

Russell felt the blinkers made a huge difference.

“It was the perfect race to try him,” he added. “I’ll be honest. He traveled better. He put me in a great spot. At the half-mile pole, I had three of them in a line [in front of me]. I tipped him out and jumped on the right lead. Just riding him, I felt like he was really flying home. He was focused. He was straight. He had his mind on business. I think we’re this close to him being a great horse.”

Post Time didn’t let up in the stretch, drawing away to score by 13 ¼ lengths over stakes-placed Union Fleet in 1:41.31 over the fast track.

Stakes-placed Feeling Woozy finished a head behind the runner-up. Then came stakes-winners Shaft’s Bullet, Regalo, and Vance Scholars. Goodafternoonoscar and Bestsugardaddy completed the order of finish.

Stakes-winner Be Better clipped heels and lost jockey Ismerio Villalobos. Both rider and horse escaped without serious injury.

Post Time returned $2.80 to win. Seven’s Eleven and Wild Vine scratched.

Bred by Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Bowman, Dr. Brooke Bowman, and Milton Higgins III, Post Time is a 5-year-old by Frosted out of stakes-winner Vielsalm by Fairbanks.

Purchased for $85,000 as a yearling, he campaigns for Mrs. Ellen Charles’s Hillwood Stable and boasts a record of 10 wins, three seconds, and three third-place finishes from 16 starts for earnings of $1,266,550.

“Last year, there were a couple of times when Sheldon felt like he had to hold onto him longer than you would have liked,” trainer Brittany Russell said after Post Time completed a schooling session on Friday afternoon. “He has that tendency to lean on horses a bit. It’s a new year. Maybe [the blinkers] help him step forward to what we’re trying to accomplish.”

That goal is to become a Grade 1 winner, and Sheldon Russell indicated that Post Time might try to achieve the feat in Saratoga’s $1,000,000 Metropolitan Handicap at one mile on June 7.

*Romeo kisses them goodbye in first baby race of the year

Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo?

He’s in the winner’s circle.

Romeo kissed them goodbye in Maryland’s first 2-year-old race of 2025, running away in the stretch to win by 10 ¼ lengths as the odds-on favorite.

Trained by John “Jerry” Robb and ridden by Xavier Perez, Romeo ($3.60) broke well and set a pressured pace outside Fortune Hill. He dismissed that rival on the turn and turned the race into a procession, stepping 4 ½ furlongs in 52.55 seconds.

Bred in Maryland by John Davison, Romeo races for Lucky 7 Stables. A $13,000 yearling buyback, Romeo is by Honor A. P. out of an unplaced half-sister to stakes-placed dirt router Addison Run from the family of 2-year-old champion Midshipman.

*Around the track:

Post Time was the second of three winners on the Saturday card piloted by Sheldon Russell and trained by Brittany Russell…Multiple stakes-winner Dataman once again got the better of rival Forever Souper, this time in the seventh race, a high-level allowance at one mile on turf. Trained by Graham Motion and ridden by Jorge Ruiz, Dataman saved ground after breaking from the rail draw, split horses in the stretch, and sprinted home to win. The 5-year-old gray Tapit gelding might be reaching peak maturity…Live racing resumes Sunday with a 10-race program to close out the Laurel Park Spring meeting. The first post time is 12:10 ET, and there will be two “Value Pick 5” wagers with a low 12% takeout. In addition, there are mandatory payouts on all wagers with carryover potential…It’s a race to the wire for Spring Meet jockey honors with Jaime Rodriguez (12) holding a one-win lead over Mychel Sanchez and Sheldon Russell. Yedsit Hazlewood is two wins behind Rodriguez…Brittany Russell (13) leads Jamie Ness by five winners for the trainer’s title…Euro Stable (5) leads all owners with J R Sanchez Racing and Larry Rabold (3) tied for second.