Brittany Russell is the latest woman with a chance to etch her name into horse racing history. Two weeks after Cherie DeVaux became the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner with Golden Tempo, and after Jena Antonucci won the 2023 Belmont with Arcangelo, Russell has the chance to complete the Triple Crown sweep of female trainers when she saddles Taj Mahal in the 151st running of the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, per the AP. "It would sort of feel probably a little fairy-tale-like," Russell said. "There's some pressure and I certainly hope we can do it, but it would mean an awful lot." The Preakness is being run at Russell's home track, Maryland's Laurel Park, for the first time, and her husband, Sheldon, is the jockey. They'd be the first married couple, at least as trainer and jockey, to win a Triple Crown race.
"The goal was always to get one that would take us to one of the big races, and he's sort of taken us there," Sheldon Russell said. Most weekends, the Russells take their children to Laurel Park, and 6-year-old daughter Edy and 4-year-old son Rye are expected to be in attendance. Unlike the usual Maryland-based horses who go into the Preakness as long shots, Taj Mahal is right in the mix of contenders in the wide-open field of 14 that doesn't include Golden Tempo. He opened at odds of 5-1, just behind morning line favorite Iron Honor. Taj Mahal is unbeaten in three races, all at Laurel Park, including going wire to wire to win the Federico Tesio Stakes on April 18 by more then eight lengths. "To have Brittany as our leading trainer for many years now here, she's obviously one of the best in the country, and Sheldon has done an unbelievable job," Maryland Jockey Club chief Bill Knauf said.
Brittany Russell hopes the home track advantage could be a major one. Her husband rides most of her horses, and that's another relationship edge they have over everyone else as they watch replays together and discuss strategy. "Most of the time, it's great," Brittany said. "Does everything go to plan? Is everything always perfect? No, and it can be a little tricky. But ... he knows the horse. He's won on it three times. He knows the racetrack better than anybody. I think it's a good thing." This is Brittany Russell's first Preakness horse in her eighth year of training. It's her husband's fourth chance to ride in the middle leg of the Triple Crown after finishing fifth aboard Chase the Chaos in 2023, sixth aboard Excession in 2020, and 10th aboard Concealed Identity in 2011. More here.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
