Brittany Russell is with a chance to etch her name into horse racing history.
Two weeks after to train a Kentucky Derby winner with and after 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 on Saturday.
鈥淚t would sort of feel probably a little fairytale-like,” Russell said. “Jena opened the door just a couple years ago with Arcangelo, and Cherie got it done in the Kentucky Derby. The fact that I feel like I have a live one in the Preakness here, look, there鈥檚 some pressure and I certainly hope we can do it, but it would mean an awful lot.鈥�
Where the race is taking place and who will be aboard could make it mean even more. The Preakness is being run at Russell’s home track, , and husband Sheldon is the jockey. They would be the first married couple, at least as trainer and jockey, to win a Triple Crown race.
鈥淭he dream, the goal was always to get one that would take us to one of the big races, and he鈥檚 sort of taken us there,鈥� Sheldon Russell told The Associated Press. 鈥淛ust like a normal day, really.鈥�
Most weekends, the Russells take their children to Laurel Park, which is just off I-95 between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., and 6-year-old daughter Edy and 4-year-old son Rye are expected to be in attendance.
They were a little younger when they went to the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar in Southern California, in the fall of 2024 when Post Time, trained by their mother and ridden by their father, finished second in a world championship mile-long dirt race. It was a cross-country introduction to the sport.
鈥淭hat was a big event for them,鈥� Sheldon Russell said. 鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 really understand what we were doing there until we sort of got there. (This time) it鈥檚 not like we have to travel.鈥�
And, 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 . He opened at odds of 5-1, just behind .
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.
鈥淚mmediately everybody started talking, just the way that horse won it,鈥� Maryland Jockey Club president and CEO Bill Knauf said. 鈥淭o have Brittany as our leading trainer for many years now here, she鈥檚 obviously one of the best in the country, and Sheldon has done an unbelievable job.鈥�
Brittany Russell called it a dominant effort, and she 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.
鈥淢ost of the time, it鈥檚 great,鈥� Brittany said. “Now, look, does everything go to plan? Is everything always perfect? No, and it can be a little tricky. But at the end of the day, it鈥檚 horse racing and some things are out of our control. In this particular instance, I think it鈥檚 great. He knows the horse. He鈥檚 won on it three times. He knows the racetrack better than anybody. I think it鈥檚 a good thing.鈥�
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.
This is different, though Sheldon Russell said he has not pondered the big-picture ramifications. His thoughts keep coming back to the little things, like, 鈥淲e have a chance.鈥�
鈥淚 guess if it happened, it鈥檚 going to be something,鈥� he said. “We both know that he has a decent chance of showing up on the big day.鈥�
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