Post Time looks to avenge lone Laurel loss in Manfuso Stakes
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Trainer Brittany Russell isn’t ready to call it yet, but in what could be his final race, Post Time will have nothing to prove and everything to gain in the $100,000 Robert T. Manfuso Stakes at Laurel Park on Saturday. The Maryland-bred superstar will be rematched with 3-year-old gelding Barbadian Runner, who upset him in the $150,000 Maryland Million Classic in October.
“It’s a little bittersweet because we’re coming to the end here, but we’re just praying that he runs a good race,” Russell said. “And it’s a good race. There are some good horses in there, so he’s going to have to run big.”
Post Time, who will stand at Northview Stallion Station in 2026, could run again early next year, but the 5-year-old is on borrowed time as he wraps up a stellar career. With two graded stakes victories and a runner-up finish in the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, the Maryland-bred has earned recognition at the national level. From his earliest days at home, he has been an unimpeachable juggernaut – until last time, that is.
Sneaking into the Maryland Million Classic as a statebred, rather than state-sired runner, Post Time returned to his home track in October with an air of historic importance and inevitable triumph. His 10-race undefeated streak at Laurel was already unprecedented in the track’s modern history, and extending it to 11 would have further cemented him as one of the finest Maryland-breds to ever run. But in the end, he was left stunned by a more determined rival.
Trainer Henry Walters still chuckles at the thought that he’s in the middle of a heavyweight saga, but his gelding is no joke. In an ironclad 3-year-old campaign, Barbadian Runner has gotten stronger with each start, racking up six stakes victories. His crowning moment will always be the Maryland Million Classic, when he took on older rivals for the first time and dug deeper than an all-time great to win by three-quarters of a length.
“Post Time is far more accomplished than my horse and he deserves to be respected in that regard,” Walters said. “But we beat him once and we’ll try him again. It’s no disgrace for Post Time to beat any horse in Maryland.”
Trainer Doug Cowans said that cross-entered gelding Not This Boy will probably ship to Fair Grounds for the $100,000 Tenacious, leaving Post Time and Barbadian Runner as the ones to beat in the Manfuso. Rain in the forecast shouldn’t hurt either runner.
Russell said that she doesn’t expect Post Time to cruise on Saturday, as the aging star has only occasionally been capable of running back to his best race as a 5-year-old. In September, he earned a 103 Beyer Speed Figure in a 17-length victory in the $100,000 Polynesian, an outlier performance that he could once muster consistently. Now, in the twilight of his career, he will have to rediscover that old form to exact revenge on a budding rival.
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“This is what racing is all about, right?” Russell said. “You want good horses running against each other. It’s good for the sport. This is why we do it. Post Time is going to stand in Maryland starting next year, and there’s a lot of excitement around that. So it’s great.”
While Post Time has been in training for two months since being beaten, Barbadian Runner delivered an encore at Laurel on Nov. 22, dusting off a weaker field in the $100,000 Richard W. Small. He is easing into a long rest, as Walters noted that the gelding will soon take several months off.
There are countless ways in which the sequel may not ultimately live up to the original. One of the favorites could simply be worn down at the end of a long campaign. Several spoilers, like West Virginia-bred star Teachintherelease and Preakness runner Pay Billy, are more than capable of crashing the party.
But as the gates open on Saturday, most fans braving the cold at Laurel will be looking for one horse. It’s rare to know when it’s goodbye, and at the very least, the Manfuso will be a time for many to appreciate Post Time, whose races at Laurel have always been adorned with the fanfare of a hero returning home.
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