Post Time puts amazing local streak on line in Maryland Million Classic
?q=100)
Because he is Maryland-bred but not Maryland-sired, Post Time needed some luck to draw into the $150,000 Maryland Million Classic at Laurel Park on Saturday. But with a spot in the starting gate, the local superstar has gone from an outsider to overwhelming danger at his home track, where he remains undefeated in 10 starts.
“It’s always nice to be back home,” trainer Brittany Russell said.
The Maryland Million Classic is the feature race on a 12-race Maryland Million Day card at Laurel, one that includes eight stakes offering $900,000 in combined purse money. There will also be four starter handicaps offering purses of either $40,000 or $50,000.
The Maryland Million’s rules state that if eight Maryland-sired horses do not fill a particular field, then the entry limitations expand to allow Maryland-bred runners. In order for Post Time to participate in his first Maryland Million Classic, six of the 12 Maryland-sired horses nominated for the race had to withdraw.
Secret Zipper also drew into the field for trainer Gary Capuano as a Maryland-bred, while the John Robb gelding All the Hardways is listed as an also-eligible. He will almost certainly have the chance to run, as Post Time will likely scare away multiple rivals.
Russell did not know if the eight-time stakes winner would be eligible for the Classic when she nominated him, leading her to take an opportunistic trip to New York late last month for the Grade 2 Woodward. The 5-year-old was a step behind that day, finishing third in a three-horse field behind Locked and Phileas Fogg.
ON SALE NOW: DRF Breeders' Cup Packages! Get everything you need to win and save big.
“It’s kind of a tricky one for me because I didn’t really train him to this race, if that makes sense,” Russell said of the Classic. “So we’re running him back in two weeks. He’s in great shape.”
After finishing second in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile last year, Post Time may not contend as well in a stronger older dirt male division in 2025. But his form at Laurel remains unimpeachable.
Nestled between lagging efforts in the Woodward and Grade 1 Whitney, the Maryland-bred returned home on Sept. 7 and won the $100,000 Polynesian by 17 lengths. His undefeated run of 10 races at Laurel is unprecedented in the track’s modern history, and he is listed as the 3-5 morning-line favorite to extend his streak to 11.
Capuano said that Secret Zipper is likely to scratch, and he may also scratch his stablemate Sacred Thunder after the race came up tougher than he expected.
Trainer Jamie Ness said that he will likely scratch Feeling Woozy, the seventh-place finisher in last year’s Classic. His other horse, Blue Kingdom, is expected to run. Ness claimed the 4-year-old gelding from Russell for $30,000 in July, and he has since won three straight races by a combined margin of 16 3/4 lengths.
Besides Post Time, Barbadian Runner is the only other runner in the field of nine coming out of a stakes. The gelding has earned four stakes victories in a hard-knocking 3-year-old campaign and will be facing older horses for the first time. The 1 1/8-mile distance will be the longest he has ever run.
“Just going to have to run a little bit farther this time against older horses, so we’ll see,” trainer Henry Walters said. “It’ll be a tough task for him, but we’ll see what happens.”
In August, Barbadian Runner took down Kentucky Derby runners Neoequos and Owen Almighty in the $500,000 Robert Hilton Memorial at Charles Town.
Maryland Million Distaff
The $100,000 Maryland Million Distaff may not feature a graded stakes winner like Post Time, but an adept horse for the course still seems to hold all the cards. Foxy Junior, the winner of the Distaff last year, remains unbeaten in three starts at Laurel and seems to be returning to Maryland in fine form.
“I was hoping this race would be a little easier, but it’s a horse race. She’s coming into the race excellent,” trainer Bernie Houghton said.
When Houghton shipped Foxy Junior to Laurel for the Distaff last year, it was her first race outside Pennsylvania in a career that began in October 2022. After she excelled over the track with a three-quarter-length victory, he brought her back the following month and she was even more impressive winning the $100,000 Thirty Eight Go Go to wrap up her 2024 campaign.
It took several months for her to round back into form as a 5-year-old, but in her return to Laurel last month, the mare seemed right at home powering to a 4 3/4-length victory the $100,000 Twixt. She will cut back to seven furlongs on Saturday, a distance she has tried twice without losing.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.