Multiple graded winner Post Time (Frosted) put in his final local workout in Maryland Saturday morning ahead of his scheduled start in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile Nov. 2.
Emma Wolfe, assistant trainer and exercise rider for Brittany Russell, was in the irons for the four furlong move in :49.60 over the main track at Fair Hill Training Center, which ended up being the seventh fastest of 20 that morning. It was the third work for the grey, who is tied for second on the Breeders' Cup leaderboard for the Dirt Mile behind MGISW Seize the Grey (Arrogate), and Russell reported a solid prognosis for her stable star.
“He went good. He went a half-mile in 49 and change and did it very well,” Russell said. “It's been quiet and good, and that's what we're looking for. Day to day, everything is going the way we need it to.”
Aside from the 2024 Preakness winner, three other slots have already been filled in the gate as MGISW National Treasure (Quality Road), MGSW Three Technique (Mr Speaker), and Japan-based multiple group winner Crown Pride (Jpn) (Reach the Crown {Jpn}) have all earned automatic spots in the 14-starter limited field.
The champion 2-year-old in Maryland in 2022, Post Time gave a good run at the highest level in New York this past summer, finishing second in the GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan Mile Handicap and third in the GI Whitney Stakes, before returning home to Laurel Park to dominate the Listed Polynesian Stakes Sept. 14 by 11 1/2 lengths. Never off the board in 13 lifetime starts, he is less than $3,000 shy of becoming racing's newest millionaire.
Accompanied by Wolfe, Post Time is scheduled to leave from Newark, NJ to California Oct. 23, and the rest of the team, including jockey Sheldon Russell, are scheduled to arrive Oct. 30.
“Emma's going to travel with him and she will be out there with him,” Russell said. “He's going to fly middle of the week, so he will get a skip over the racetrack. Emma will breeze him like a solo half and let him gallop out. The main work is done now. It'll just be some maintenance the week before, let him feel the track and all that.”
“As long as he's healthy, he's the kind of horse that thrives on racing. We're all lucky to be in Post Time's world, really.”
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
