COLONIAL READY FOR FIRST FEMALE CHAMPION?

Some opinion, mostly fact:

Gotta love it … Week 3 of Colonial Downs’ 2024 

Thoroughbred meet gets underway Thursday (July 25) … 

with the four top trainers (to date) women … from

 BRITTANY RUSSELL (6 starts, 4 wins) to MARY 

EPPLER (2 for 2) to NIALL SAVILLE (3 starts, 2 wins) to

 LYNN ASHBY (2 for 5) Credit “DERBY BILL” 

WATSON for the update ... I know, I know … there’s a long 

way to go … seven weeks to be exact but … who knows? A 

female finishing first in a sport dominated by men? At least 

it got our attention … followed by learning about the front-

running foursome. Russell, for example, has career earnings 

of $21,434,886. In 2,030 starts, her horses have won 494 

races, placing 350 times and coming home third 301 … So 

far in 2024, the numbers are equally impressive: 345 -- 72W, 

48P, and 50 show … operating out of the Fair Hill Training 

Center in Elkton, Md … Keep an eye on Russell-trained

 NEW EPISODE, who broke her maiden at Colonial 

Downs in 2022 and recently won her third start on the New 

Kent County track in as many years … An amateur jockey 

(2006-2017; 2 for 20), Russell, 35, got off to a ringing start 

as a trainer, winning her first time out (Feb. 25, 2018) with

 OH MY at Laurel … and, in 2023, became the first distaff 

trainer to claim the Maryland championship after

 CLAUDIO GONZALES ha been No. 1 since 2017. For 

the year, Russell had personal bests of 121 victories (687 

starts) and $7,996,867 in earnings … highlighted by 4 year 

old Doppelganger, the longest long shot (17-1) in a field of 

six … and ridden by husband SHELDON RUSSELL … 

taking the $300,000 Gr. I Carter Handicap at Aqueduct by 1 

½ lengths and paying $37.80 … B. Russell already is four-

time champ at Laurel. It can’t be too early to label her the 

trainer to beat here, would it?

Colonial will add an extra day (Wednesday, Sept. 4) to make 

up for July 12, the scheduled second day of the meet, which 

was cancelled because of heavy rain.

…….  Wow! Here’s a surprise … 49ers tackle TRENT 

WILLIAMS has a contract paying him $20 million-plus a 

year through 2027 … and doesn’t think it’s enough, so he’s 

holding out for more. The same T. Williams did likewise 

when playing for the Redskins (as they were known then).

……. Boy, the Olympics are off to a ringing stop, eh? … Let’s 

see: A three-time gold medal-winning dressage rider from 

England dropped out after a four-year-old video surfaced of 

her whipping (literally) a horse … Then fans from Morocco 

stormed the field after Argentina scored a controversial goal 

to force overtime in men’s soccer. Arrests were made. Then, 

after the stadium was cleared, the teams returned ostensibly 

to play on only to have the game called when the goal was 

disallowed for offsides (barely) thanks to VAR replay. 

Final:Morocco 2, Argentina 1 … And two Canadian 

woman's soccer team coaches were suspended and set home 

for eaves dropping on a future opponent … by using a drone 

… So far no reports about ugly Americans. Give them time. 

The SuSummer Games in Paris have only just begun. 

……. Still no word on a new coach for the U.S. men’s natioanl 

soccer side. You don’t suppose the federation has been 

turned down so often that they will retain GREGG 

BERHALTER – again – do you?

Until next time ...