Trio of top trainers duke it out as fall meet opens
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After making way for Colonial Downs this summer, Laurel Park will kick off its fall meet with an eight-race card on Friday. Trainer Jamie Ness, winner of the training title at the winter meet, expects to get back to his winning ways in Maryland.
“They’re trying to tweak the Mid-Atlantic region,” Ness said. “There’s a lot of racing and a little shortage of horses. Everyone’s trying something new. It’s hard for a guy like me with a lot of Maryland-breds to have all that time off, but it is what it is. Hopefully, we’re all on the same page trying to do it the right way.”
Laurel’s fall meet will conclude Dec. 31, at which point the track will take a short break and return in mid-January for its winter meet.
For the better part of three years, Ness and trainer Brittany Russell have been in constant competition at the top of Laurel’s trainer standings. Ness has taken each of the last three winter meets, which run from January to March, while Russell has taken each of the last three fall meets.
“We run our horses at a lot of different venues, and usually it comes down to me and Brittany late in the year,” Ness said. “It’s not something we’re shooting for, but if we’re in the hunt at the end of the meet, it means we had a good meet.”
Though Ness and Russell are expected to continue their rivalry, trainer Mike Trombetta said that he hopes to sustain his momentum as he wraps up an impressive meet at Colonial. As of Sept. 3, Trombetta is striking at 24 percent and currently holds a five-win lead over Russell for the training title.
“The biggest problem everybody faces nowadays is getting your horses in the right races frequently enough to put together a good season,” Trombetta said. “Hopefully, some of that continuity can continue.”
Trombetta has five horses entered on Friday’s eight-race card.
Ness, Russell, and Trombetta will all meet in the feature on Friday, a $49,000 allowance for 2-year-old fillies at a mile on turf. Law School is Ness’s only runner on the card and will make her turf debut after a 12 1/4-length debut victory at Parx last month.
“She played the way she practiced,” Ness said of her debut. “The turf is a question mark and the distance is a question mark. Obviously, I wanted to go on the dirt, but the dirt didn’t go. She’s ready to go, so we thought we’d give her a shot.”
Trombetta’s second-time starter Ultimate Love already has experience in a turf route, having won her debut at a mile at Colonial in late July. Trombetta considered the Florida-bred for stakes competition in Virginia after her 2 3/4-length debut victory, but he ultimately settled for this spot.
Russell’s filly, Ixchel, also earned her maiden victory at Colonial last time out, switching to turf and stretching out in her second start to earn a 70 Beyer Speed Figure. She will likely be favored in her first race against winners.
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