(Mizner wins at Laurel Park on Thursday for trainer Brittany Russell / Photo Courtesy of the Maryland Jockey Club)

From the Maryland Jockey Club Media Team / Dan Illman:

Russells Start Preakness Week Strong
Mizner wins Thursday’s co-featured seventh race


LAUREL, MD—It’s a little more than 48 hours before the biggest race of trainer Brittany Russell’s life, and she’s in the winner’s circle to greet a speedy gray gelding named Mizner.

For many, the weight of Saturday’s Grade 1, $2,000,000 Preakness Stakes would be overwhelming, especially since Brittany and her husband, jockey Sheldon Russell, will saddle a hometown favorite, the unbeaten Laurel Park-based Taj Mahal.

If Brittany Russell is feeling the strain of competing in the second jewel of the Triple Crown, she isn’t showing it. She greeted reporters with a breezy, confident smile as she discussed Mizner’s victory in Thursday’s co-featured seventh race, a $49,000 first-level allowance for 3-year-olds at six furlongs.

Like Taj Mahal, Mizner had started only three times before the three-day Preakness stand at Laurel Park.

After finishing fifth in his lone start last year, a seven-furlong maiden special weight at Colonial Downs, Russell and owner David Ross of DARRS Inc. decided to give the promising runner a rest.

“Credit to David Ross because he let us cut him and give him some time,” Russell said after Sheldon Russell booted Mizner to a 1 ¼-length victory over Palacios in 1:11.07 over the good main track. “I think that was sort of the ticket with him.”

Mizner returned to the races on March 14 at Colonial Downs, and the newly gelded sophomore finished behind the two favored betting choices after running on the inside.

“I think that was a pretty good spot to come back in,” Russell said. “I think there were some pretty good horses that day because I loved him. In defeat, that was okay that day.”

Having secured that fitness-building performance firmly under his girth, Mizner went to Laurel Park, where he leisurely dominated seven other maidens from start to finish as the odds-on favorite in a 5 ½-furlong race on April 18.

This afternoon, Mizner faced a strong test. He stepped up to face winners for the first time and encountered other swift speed types.

In fact, it was an 84-1 outsider, Laysen, who took the early lead, with Mizner tracking on the outside. Laysen stepped the opening quarter in 22.67 seconds, but his lead was short-lived.

Sheldon Russell clucked to Mizner, and they forged to the lead after a half-mile in 46.68 seconds. Palacios loomed on the far outside, but Mizner always had just a little more in the tank. Palacios ran well for second, 1 ¾ lengths ahead of favored Wonder Mist. Caseofthemondays, Flirty Bajan, G Q Worthy, Poor Peanut, Laysen, and R J’s Ice completed the order of finish.

Mizner, the second choice in the betting, paid $5.40 to win.

Ross purchased Mizner, a son of Munnings, for $160,000 as a yearling. Mizner, a half-brother to the multiple stakes-placed Reconcile, is out of Welcoming, a multiple stakes-placed Tapit mare.

Welcoming is a half-sister to multiple Grade 1 winner Raging Sea, and both hail from the family of Hall of Famer A.P. Indy and Preakness winner Summer Squall.

“I was quite lucky [to meet David],” Russell said. “He started sending me a couple of horses that he wanted to keep in Maryland, and now it’s developed. He loves Colonial Downs, and we try and focus on that. Hopefully, this horse will be fun down there this summer.”

*Around the track:

Trainer Robbie Bailes sent out two winners on Thursday’s card. El de Larry ($5) was first by disqualification in the sixth race after the stewards ruled that Tuff Luck interfered with him in the stretch. Carlos Lopez rode El de Larry. In the finale, Boost ($4.80), ridden by jockey Jeiron Barbosa, nipped Music Box by the slimmest of margins.

Live racing resumes on Friday for a special 14-race program, highlighted by six stakes races, including the Grade 2, $300,000 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/8 miles. The first post time is 11:30 am ET.

The free “Laurel Park Handicapping Guide” is available on every race day. It provides picks, analysis, trainer stats, trip notes, horses to watch, track bias info, and more from The Maryland Jockey Club’s team of handicappers. Friday’s guide is available. Click here to view it.

Never miss a second of the action on the Laurel Park YouTube channel. Click here to watch full pan and head-on replays.

About The Maryland Jockey Club
The Maryland Jockey Club, founded in 1743, is the oldest sporting association in the United States and conducts live thoroughbred racing at Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course. For more information on The Maryland Jockey Club, please contact Dan Illman at Dan.Illman@marylandracing.com. Past press releases are available here.