Prince of Jericho winning the Spectacular Bid. (Jim McCue/MJC)
Trainer Russell Poised to Sweep Laurel Sophomore Stakes
David Joseph/Maryland Jockey Club
LAUREL, Md. – Last month, trainer Brittany Russell had the good fortune to sweep the first two sophomore stakes of the year at Laurel Park. On Saturday she brings back both horses – Prince of Jericho and filly L Street Lady – with a chance to do it all over again.
Michael Dubb and Morris Bailey’s Prince of Jericho goes after his second straight stakes victory in the $100,000 Miracle Wood following a commanding four-length triumph in the Spectacular Bid Jan. 21. Madaket Stables’ L Street Lady captured the Xtra Heat in her stakes debut earlier on the card and chases a third straight victory in the $100,000 Wide Country.
The 28th running of the one-mile Miracle Wood and 30th edition of the Wide Country for 3-year-old fillies sprinting seven furlongs are among six stakes worth $900,000 on a Winter Carnival program headlined by the $250,000 General George (G3) and $250,000 Barbara Fritchie (G3).
Post time for the first of 10 races is 12:25 p.m.
The Miracle Wood is the second of Laurel’s series of stakes for 3-year-olds leading up to the 148th Preakness (G1), Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown, May 20 at historic Pimlico Race Course. It is followed by the $100,000 Private Terms March 18 and $125,000 Federico Tesio April 15, the latter a ‘Win and In’ qualifier for Triple Crown-nominated horses to the Preakness.
The connections made Prince of Jericho, a Kentucky-bred son of Munnings that fetched $85,000 as a fall 2021 yearling, among the 369 3-year-olds eligible for the Triple Crown by the early Jan. 28 deadline.
“It’s awesome. They are clients, Michael Dubb and Sol [Kumin] with Madaket, that have supported me from the beginning,” Russell said. “They sent us these two young horses and we’ve been able to develop them. They’ve just allowed us to do what we need to do, and for them to be stakes winners now it’s just satisfying. It’s what we hope to do. You hope to get the good young horses in the barn and win good races with them.”
Prince of Jericho enters the Miracle Wood having been third or better in all five of his starts, including three wins. After running third to his undefeated stablemate Post Time in their debut last October, he graduated by 11 ¾ lengths next out and followed up with a 5 ¼-length optional claiming score before running second as the favorite to Coffeewithchris in the Dec. 26 Heft.
Russell won the Miracle Wood in 2021 with Maythehorsebwithu.
“He’s great. He’s the same horse every day. He runs and he comes out of there bouncing,” Russell said. “He never seems to act like he’s done a whole lot in the afternoon when he’s come out of his races. He’s easy to kind of get right back to it. He’s been on the tab; he’s done what we’ve asked him. We’re happy with him. We expect him to run another big race.”
Also coming out of the Spectacular Bid are runner-up Coffeewithchris, the most experienced runner with nine starts including a third to Post Time in the Maryland Juvenile; B West, who was third in his first start after being claimed for $62,500; and sixth-place finisher We Don’t Need Roads. Coffeewithchris is trained and co-owned by John Salzman Jr., who won last year’s Miracle Wood with Local Motive.
Lucky 7 Stables’ B West was claimed out of his 12-length graduation in a one-mile maiden event last November at Laurel, his third start, and then taken again by trainer Jerry Robb out of a two-length victory the following start in December. The Mineshaft colt raced far back early in the seven-furlong Spectacular Bid before making a run.
“He’s improving in each race that he’s had. Even before we got him, each race was getting better and better,” Robb said. “He had a big excuse in his last race, so I look for him to bounce back here good.”
Like Prince of Jericho, B West was nominated to the Triple Crown as was The Cottonwood Stable’s Maryland homebred Seven’s Eleven, who is entered to make his stakes debut in the Miracle Wood out of a 4 ¼-length maiden special weight triumph Jan. 27 at Laurel, his fourth start.
“He’s doing good, so we’ll see what happens,” trainer Carlos Mancilla said. “He won easy the last time, and my owner always think the horse is going to like the longer distances. I think the one mile is going to be perfect for him. He’s a lot different horse now. I worked him the other day and he worked in 47 [seconds] and we never asked him. I told the jockey to just sit there and relax and that’s what he did. He did it all by himself. He’s a horse that we like a lot. He’s getting better and better.”
Completing the field are Hamilton Smith-owned and trained Feeling Woozy, second to Prince of Jericho as maidens and fifth behind Post Time in the Maryland Juvenile; and Sheffield Stable’s Ricco, three times stakes-placed including a third in the Heft.
At ages 2 and 3, Maryland-bred Miracle Wood won or placed in 13 stakes including seconds in the Jim Beam (G3) and Woodlawn (G3) prior to a fifth behind Snow Chief as the longest shot on the board (20-1) in the 1986 Preakness Stakes (G1). He was retired in 1992 after winning 14 of 117 starts and nearly a half-million dollars in purse earnings.
