Trainer Brittany Russell on Verge of History Following Friday Double
Special 12:15 P.M. Post Time Saturday for Laurel’s Live 10-Race Program

BALTIMORE – Six months after becoming a stakes winner with his upset victory in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) at Del Mar, Maryland champion Aloha West is set to launch his 5-year-old season Saturday.

Bred in Maryland by Laurel Park-based trainer Katy Voss and her late life partner Bob Manfuso, Aloha West is co-second choice in the Churchill Downs (G1) for 4-year-olds and up sprinting seven furlongs on the undercard of the Kentucky Derby (G1).

It will be the first race for Aloha West since edging Dr. Schivel by a nose at odds of 11-1 in the Sprint, coming with a furious late rally following some early trouble. Jockey Jose Ortiz, aboard that day for trainer Wayne Catalano, gets the return call from the rail in a field of eight that includes 5-2 program favorite Jackie’s Warrior and Reinvestment Risk, like Aloha West rated at 7-2.

Purchased privately by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners following two starts for Gary and Mary West, Aloha West is by Hard Spun out of the Speightstown mare Island Bound, a member of the broodmare band at 191-acre Chanceland Farm in West Friendship, Md. that was established by Voss and Manfuso in 1987.

Island Bound was owned by Manfuso and made the final three starts of her racing career for Voss at Laurel after going 5-for-24 with trainer Ian Wilkes including a victory in the 2012 Winning Colors (G3) at Churchill.

Hard Spun, who ran third in the 2007 Preakness Stakes (G1) at historic Pimlico Race Course and went on to become a Grade 1-winning sprinter, stands at Darley’s Jonabell Farm in Lexington, Ky. Aloha West was foaled April 16, 2017.

Unraced at 2 and 3, Aloha West had five wins and two seconds in nine starts last year with purse earnings of more than $1.3 million. He was named the champion Maryland-bred sprinter of 2021 and finished second to Jackie’s Warrior in voting for the Eclipse Award as champion male sprinter in North America.

Aloha West is another chapter in the success story for the Voss-Manfuso partnership, also responsible for breeding such stakes winners as 2016 Kentucky Oaks (G1) heroine Cathryn Sophia, four-time graded-stakes winner International Star, 2022 General George (G3) winner Cordmaker and multiple stakes winner Las Setas.

The Churchill Downs is carded 10th on a 14-race program with a post time of 4:31 p.m.

Also in the race is Built Wright Stables’ Sir Alfred James, third to Cordmaker in the General George Feb. 19 at Laurel. In his two most recent starts, also at Laurel, Sir Alfred James ran sixth in the April 16 Frank Whiteley and fifth in the Henry S. Clark on turf seven days later at Laurel. Jon Court rides for trainer Lynn Cast from Post 4.

Earlier on the undercard, Reeves Thoroughbred Racing and William Branch’s Frosted Grace is among 12 older sprinters entered in the Knicks Go overnight handicap, named for the 2021 Horse of the Year bred by Angie and Sabrina Moore at their GreenMount Farm in Glyndon, Md.

Frosted Grace has won two straight races including the Owner Appreciation Cup March 5 at Delta Downs. The 6-year-old horse has placed twice in Grade 3 races, the most recent coming in last year’s Maryland Sprint (G3) on the Preakness 146 undercard.

Laurel will open its doors at 10 a.m. Saturday and have a special 12:15 p.m. post time for its live 10-race program. First post at Churchill is 10:30 a.m., with a 6:57 p.m. post for the Derby.

Trainer Brittany Russell on Verge of History Following Friday Double

Brittany Russell saddled a pair of winners Friday at Laurel Park to pass Jamie Ness and take over first place in the trainer standings for the fall meet, with two racing days remaining.

Russell, 32, won with each of her first two starters Friday – Howard’s Rock ($3.20) in Race 5 and Notion of Curly ($3.80) in Race 7 – for her 11th and 12th wins of the meet. She also finished third with her remaining starter, Juror Number Four, in Race 8.

Stabled primarily at Laurel with a string at historic Pimlico Race Course, Russell entered the weekend with nine wins, one behind Jamie Ness and Claudio Gonzalez, Maryland’s leading trainer by wins since 2017. It’s Game Time gave Ness his 11th winner Thursday, while Russell picked up No. 10 with Sugar Gray Leonard.

Russell, seeking her first meet title, is aiming to become the fourth female to lead the trainer standings in Maryland, following Karen Patty (1992 Pimlico spring), Mary Eppler (2016 Laurel fall) and Linda Rice (T-1st 2017 Laurel winter). She has one horse entered Saturday and two on closing day Sunday.

Ness has one main-track-only entrant Saturday and two horses entered Sunday. Gonzalez, who had no starters Friday, has three in both Saturday and Sunday as he chases his 10th consecutive meet title and 20th overall.

In the jockey race, seven-pound apprentice Jeiron Barbosa holds a two-win edge over Jevian Toledo, 20-18. Toledo rode each of Russell’s winners Friday, and is named in three races Saturday and Sunday. Barbosa sat out Friday and will miss the final two days serving a three-day suspension.

Notes: Five-pound apprentice Bryson Butterfly rode back-to-back winners Friday, Aftermath ($10.80) in Race 2 and He’s Orientate ($13) in Race 3. They were his only two mounts on the card … He’s Orientate was the first of two horses bred in Maryland by Carl Lanier to win Friday, followed by Notion of Curly ($3.80) in Race 7 … There will be carryovers of $3,668.79 in the 20-cent Rainbow 6 and $391.84 in the $1 Super Hi-5 for Saturday’s card.