At the start of this week’s racing at Laurel Park, Brittany Russell had already clinched Maryland’s year-end training title for the second consecutive season.
On Saturday, Russell won a stakes race for the second time in seven days.
Following up on Sea Dancer’s upset victory in last Saturday’s Carousel for fillies and mares, Russell saddled the intriguing 2-year-old One Man Team to a gate-to-wire score in the Heft, one of two $100,000 events for juveniles racing seven furlongs.
The Gin Talking for fillies was contested one race earlier.
One Man Team, a son of Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist out of a half-sister to Triple Crown winner Justify, displayed good speed from the start under jockey Sheldon Russell and set fractions of 23.22 and 47.18 over the sealed, sloppy track.
One Man Team shrugged off pace pressure from Saxton and Shootersgottashoot, spurted clear at the three-sixteenths pole, then splashed home 4 1/4 lengths better than Sacred Thunder, who was a neck ahead of third-place finisher Barbadian Runner.
Saxton, Yara’s Quest, Shootersgottashoot, and Blanches Mule completed the order of finish.
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One Man Team ran the distance in 1:25.22 and returned $7.40 as the public’s second choice. Fire Pit, Baby Dukes, and Crab Daddy scratched. One Man Team was the third winner this afternoon for the Brittany and Sheldon Russell team.
“I just left it up to Sheldon,” Brittany Russell said regarding race tactics. “He knows the horse. That worked out great on a track like this. He broke his maiden first time out. You don’t want to sit back there and eat too much of this racetrack today. He’s a talented horse. [Sheldon] kept him out of trouble. He put him on the engine, and he responded.”
One Man Team was bred in Kentucky by Summer Wind Equine. Purchased for $285,000 as a yearling, he races for Robert LaPenta and Madaket Stables and won his career debut by six lengths in a six-furlong maiden special weight at Laurel on Oct. 31.
Considering his classy, stamina-oriented pedigree, One Man Team is likely headed to longer-distance races.
“We always thought he could get the job done sprinting against maidens,” Brittany Russell continued. “[The Heft] wasn’t necessarily the plan, but it worked out well. He got to run back at home and get the win in the stake today. The goal will be to stretch him out, and he’s always trained like a horse that should stretch.”
*Gin Talking
Caprice engaged in a hot three-ply pace duel involving Atlantis Queen and Not Too Late, emerged with the lead in the upper stretch, and still had enough in the tank to best My Charm by 1 3/4 lengths in the Gin Talking. She completed the distance in 1:27.88 and returned $2.40 to win as the prohibitive betting favorite.
My Charm sat a nice trip from behind fractions of 22.78 and 46.09 seconds, angled inside the winner at the three-sixteenths, and trudged on for second, 4 1/2 lengths ahead of Not Too Late. Then came Atlantis Queen and A Shawtown Girl. Beyond Belief scratched.
Foaled in Pennsylvania, Caprice, a filly by Golden Lad, is a homebred owned by Gregory and Caroline Bentley’s Runnymoore Racing LLC. Boasting a record of six wins from seven starts, Caprice’s only loss came when stretched out around two turns in Delaware’s White Clay Creek on Oct. 9.
“What a year, what a filly,” said Joe Cassidy, who serves as Runnymoore’s racing manager. Cassidy mentioned that Caprice will get more opportunities to race at longer distances in 2025 and may attempt a switch to turf during the summer months.
Caprice’s pedigree indicates that longer distances and turf might be within her scope. Her second dam, Dance Away Capote, was a Grade 3 winner at one mile on grass, while her third dam is related to Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Skip Away.
“Right now, she’s exceeded our expectations,” Cassidy continued. “She’s been an absolutely wonderful filly for us, and we couldn’t be prouder.”
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