Brittany Russell has a live chance to join fellow women trainers in rewriting Triple Crown history, with Taj Mahal in Saturday’s 151st Preakness at Laurel Park—where her husband Sheldon will ride.
The pressure is real, but the feeling inside Brittany Russell’s barn looks like opportunity rather than fear. Two weeks after a first woman trained a Kentucky Derby winner, and with Jenna Antonucci’s Belmont win still fresh, Russell now has Taj Mahal aimed at a historic Preakness on Saturday.
If she can pull it off, Russell would complete the rare Triple Crown sweep of female trainers. The 151st running of the Preakness Stakes is set at Russell’s home track, Laurel Park, and the stakes grow even higher because her husband, Sheldon, will be aboard.
“It would sort of feel probably a little fairytale-like,” Russell said.. “Jena opened the door just a couple years ago with Arcangelo, and Cherie got it done in the Kentucky Derby.. The fact that I feel like I have a live one in the Preakness here. look. there’s some pressure and I certainly hope we can do it. but it would mean an awful lot.”
For Sheldon Russell, the dream is familiar but no less compelling. He told The Associated Press that the goal has been about earning a shot on the biggest stages.
“The dream, the goal was always to get one that would take us to one of the big races, and he’s sort of taken us there,” he said. “Just like a normal day, really.”
The race also carries a distinction that would be hard to replicate: Russell and Sheldon would be the first married couple. at least in trainer and jockey roles. to win a Triple Crown race.. Most weekends. the Russells bring their children to Laurel Park. and six-year-old daughter Edy and four-year-old son Rye are expected to be there for this one.
They weren’t as old when they traveled for the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar in the fall of 2024, a whirlwind introduction to the sport for the family. Post Time, trained by Brittany and ridden by Sheldon, finished second in a world championship mile-long dirt race.
“That was a big event for them,” Sheldon Russell said. “They didn’t really understand what we were doing there until we sort of got there. (This time) it’s not like we have to travel.”
Unlike many Maryland-based Preakness runners who enter as long shots, Taj Mahal arrives positioned among the contenders in a wide-open field of 14 horses that does not include Golden Tempo. Taj Mahal opened at odds of 5-1, just behind morning line favourite Iron Honor.
The case for Taj Mahal isn’t just momentum—it’s dominance at the very place the race will be run. He’s unbeaten in three starts, all at Laurel Park, including going wire to wire to win the Federico Tesio Stakes on April 18 by more than eight lengths.
Maryland Jockey Club president and CEO Bill Knauf said the performance has already turned heads in the sport.
“Immediately everybody started talking, just the way that horse won it,” Knauf said. “To have Brittany as our leading trainer for many years now here, she’s obviously one of the best in the country, and Sheldon has done an unbelievable job.”
Brittany Russell said her horse’s win in that April prep felt dominant. and she’s also eyeing the advantage that comes with being able to live with the racetrack week after week.. Sheldon rides most of her horses. and she believes that rhythm helps when it comes time to study replays and shape strategy.
“Most of the time, it’s great,” Brittany Russell said.. “Now, look, does everything go to plan?. Is everything always perfect?. No, and it can be a little tricky.. But at the end of the day, it’s horse racing and some things are out of our control.. In this particular instance, I think it’s great.. He knows the horse.. He’s won on it three times.. He knows the racetrack better than anybody.. I think it’s a good thing.”
This will be Brittany Russell’s first Preakness horse in her eighth year of training.. It’s also a return to the middle leg of the Triple Crown for Sheldon. who has had three prior chances: he finished fifth aboard Chase the Chaos in 2023. sixth aboard Excession in 2020. and 10th aboard Concealed Identity in 2011.
Still, Sheldon said he hasn’t spent much time weighing the larger historical implications. For him, the focus stays on what can be done in the moment.
“This is different, though,” he said, adding that he keeps circling back to the immediate reality of the ride. “He has not pondered the big-picture ramifications. His thoughts keep coming back to the little things, like, ‘We have a chance.’”
“I guess if it happened, it’s going to be something,” Sheldon Russell said. “We both know that he has a decent chance of showing up on the big day.”
Preakness Stakes Brittany Russell Taj Mahal Sheldon Russell Laurel Park Triple Crown female trainers Iron Honor Federico Tesio Stakes