Prado Road. (Jim McCue/TMJC)
Three winners for jockey Sheldon Russell and trainer Brittany Russell
Dan Illman/The Maryland Jockey Club
LAUREL, Md. – Although it couldn’t be considered a marital spat, trainer Brittany Russell and her husband, jockey Sheldon Russell, disagreed as it pertained to Prado Road’s path to victory in Sunday’s featured seventh race at Laurel Park, a $48,000 state-bred or -sired allowance at six furlongs.
A speedy gelding, Prado Road had been first or a close second at the pace call in his last five races over fast tracks. Brittany felt the correct play was to be aggressive again from the inside post position.
“[Sheldon said] that he’s not fast enough to make the lead,” Brittany said. “I told him to do what you want. He never listens to me, anyway, but it usually works out well.”
“I told Brittany in the paddock that I didn’t think he was the fastest horse,” Sheldon mentioned. “He’s not a 22 [seconds flat] type of horse. Even when he makes the lead, he’s going sub 23’s. [Elvis Himself] can go 22. I’ve run against [that horse] a few times. He’s a go-getter. I mentioned that I would do the fast break, but if [Prado Road] is outrun, I’m going to snug him and see if it works.”
In this instance, the rider’s instinct was correct. Prado Road broke quickly but wasn’t as fast as Elvis Himself, who engaged Prado Road during the opening two furlongs.
Sheldon decided that now was the time to test his belief that Prado Road could relax behind other horses. He took hold and rated Prado Road 2 ½ lengths behind the pacesetter.
Elvis Himself set fractions of 22.64 and 45.82, but Prado Road eased out from the inside pocket position to split horses in the upper stretch. After changing leads at the eighth pole, Prado Road surged to the lead and prevailed by 1 ½ lengths in 1:11.04 over the fast track.
“I was able to sit in the slipstream, and he took a deep breath,” Sheldon said. “He’s shown us a different type of running style. I’m extremely proud because it’s what I’ve wanted to do with him for a while.”
Prado Road returned $9.20 as the second choice in the betting. A 4-year-old gelding by Golden Lad, Prado Road is a homebred owned by Karmac Stable.
Prado Road was Sheldon’s third winner on the card. He piloted Brittany’s Surgical Precision to a debut victory in the third race before completing a natural double aboard first-time starter Mr. Keys in the fourth. Madison Meyers trains Mr. Keys.
“You’re welcome, sweetie,” Sheldon teased Brittany on the walk back from the winner’s circle. “I’ll get Spaghetti Bolognese for dinner, please. I’m not doing sushi because we always do sushi on Sunday.”
Brittany had the last laugh twenty minutes later as she completed her own Sunday triple when Buds Island won the finale in pacesetting fashion under jockey Jevian Toledo
Surgical Precision cuts to the chase in debut victory
“I love the way he traveled. I loved the way he finished. I loved the way he took dirt,” said Todd Mostoller, the founding and managing partner of Commonwealth New Era Racing LLC, after his Surgical Precision tracked and pounced his way to a debut victory in today’s third race, a $47,000 maiden special weight for 3-year-olds at six furlongs.
Surgical Precision settled in third position as Suremeanttobe and Serendipitymonday sparred through fractions of 22.71 and 46.94 seconds.
Sheldon Russell angled Surgical Precision into the clear turning for home, and they finished it off to win by two lengths in 1:12.31.
“He’s a really classy horse,” Brittany Russell said. “I will say we had him really well schooled because he’s a colt, and he knows it. He’s worked well. He was professional warming up. He had to sit in the gate, take some dirt, and run them down. It’s what you want to see. It gives me the feeling that he could go farther.”
Bred in Kentucky by Narola LLC and Jason Taylor, Surgical Precision is a Complexity colt out of the Paynter mare Lazy Susan, who won the Grade 2 Pocahontas Stakes at Churchill Downs.
Surgical Precision went through the auction ring three times. A $50,000 buyback as a short yearling, he sold for $105,000 as a yearling before being purchased for $50,000 by Commonwealth New Era at last April’s OBS 2-year-old sale.
Surgical Precision breezed a furlong in a fleet 9 4/5 seconds at that auction, but soon underwent surgery to remove an ankle chip.
“That’s why we named him Surgical Precision,” Mostoller said.
Mostoller isn’t sure what distance suits Surgical Precision. “Do I think he’ll go long? Looking at his build, I think he’d be more sprint-oriented, but you don’t limit these horses.”
Although Surgical Precision is Triple Crown nominated, Mostoller said he doesn’t have “any dreams or delusions of that from a timing standpoint.”
“It would be a total longshot at this point, but longshots do come in,” Mostoller said about the Triple Crown series. “You got to treat the horse right. That’s all you can do. Just make sure you take care of your horses, put him in the right spots, and he’ll tell us.”
Around the track > > >
Omaha Omaha, second in Aqueduct’s Jerome Stakes on Jan. 4 and third in the Withers Stakes there on Feb. 1, breezed a half-mile Saturday morning in 50.60 seconds for trainer Michael Gorham…
Tony Eclipse, the winner of the restricted Maryland Juvenile on Dec. 7 and a troubled sixth in the Spectacular Bid on Jan. 25, worked a half in 52 flat for trainer Brittany Russell…
On the Mark, recently third in the Fire Plug Stakes here on Jan. 18, breezed a bullet half-mile in 49 flat for trainer Joanne Shankle…Laurel Park released nomination lists for two $75,000 stakes races for Maryland-bred or -sired performers on March 8. The Conniver for fillies and mares at seven furlongs attracted 20 nominations, including multiple stakes-winner Call Another Play and defending champion Too Many Kisses…
Gorham’s multiple stakes-placed Royal Whisper breezed a half-mile in 51.20 on Friday morning in preparation for the Conniver…
Grade 3-winning millionaire Coastal Mission leads the 17 nominees for the Not For Love Stakes for 4-year-olds and upward at six furlongs… Trainer Hamilton Smith worked stakes-placed Feeling Woozy seven furlongs in 1:29.40, potentially for the Not For Love.
