It didn’t take long for Hillwood Stable’s Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) runner-up Post Time to get back to business upon his return to Maryland.

Laurel Park-based trainer Brittany Russell said the 4-year-old Frosted colt, part of her string at the Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md. that is overseen by assistant and exercise rider Emma Wolfe, arrived Wednesday from Del Mar.

“He got back and he has been raising hell for 24 hours so he had to go gallop [Thursday],” Russell said. “Not that I’ve traveled with loads of good horses, but he travels really well.”

Post Time finished 1 ½ lengths behind upset winner Full Serrano in the Nov. 2 Dirt Mile, his third Grade 1 placing this year to go along with stakes wins in the General George (G3), Polynesian and Jennings at Laurel and Carter (G2) at Aqueduct. He also ran second in the Met Mile (G1) and third in the Whitney (G1), both at Saratoga.

“He’s got a Grade 1 with his name on it somewhere, I just have to figure it out,” Russell said. “The [Dirt Mile] winner ran great. He had a great trip. I’m not saying we didn’t or any excuse like that, but with his running style he’s running late and it’s a short stretch. You feel like maybe if there’s a little more [racetrack] maybe he gets there but, hey, that’s horse racing. We were delighted to be second.”

Never worse than third with nine wins from 14 starts, Maryland’s 2022 champion 2-year-old is under consideration for the Cigar Mile (G2) Dec. 7 at Aqueduct.

“With how he’s doing right now it’s kind of hard to really stop on him. I feel like we’ve taken pretty good care to space his races and things like that. It’s up to him. That’s kind of how we’ve gone with him all year,” Russell said. “We got lucky and he handled everything pretty well and he kind of asked for the next step.

“Emma was training him up there [Thursday] morning and she said he was a wild animal,” she added. “So after a race like that and him traveling back home from California, for him to act like that makes me feel pretty good that we can probably think about the Cigar Mile.”

Post Time has two wins – the Polynesian and Jennings – and three seconds in five tries at one mile and has raced twice at Aqueduct, following his Carter victory with a runner-up finish in the May 3 Westchester (G3).

“[The Cigar Mile] is five weeks from his last one and the way he seemed to have traveled home, we’re going to keep that on our radar and certainly consider it,” Russell said. “And if we have to sit and wait, he’ll get whatever he needs. It’s going to be up to him. We’re just going to see how he trains and go from there.”

Post Time became a fan favorite and social media darling during the Breeders’ Cup for his good looks and personality, which regularly sees him active and playful both before and after his morning exercise.

“He’s just entertaining. He’s pure entertainment, and he knows everybody’s looking at him. He loves that,” Russell said. “Besides his quirks in the morning, it was like pretty stress-free. He’s just good, so it was a little bit less of a worry for me. Once Emma survived getting him to the racetrack every day it was fine.”

Already the richest horse the 35-year-old Russell has trained since going out on her own in 2018, Post Time became her first millionaire following the Dirt Mile. He earned $170,000 for second, pushing his bankroll to $1,167,910.

“How about that,” Russell said. “Now I need to get him to $2 million.”

Hillwood Stable’s Maryland-bred and based multiple graded-stakes winner Post Time, dominant in capturing the one-mile Polynesian last month at Laurel Park, will make his next start in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1).

Trainer Brittany Russell confirmed that the 4-year-old Post Time, by two-time Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) participant and multi-millionaire Grade 1 winner Frosted, is bound for and will train up to the Dirt Mile Nov. 2 at Del Mar, having emerged from his 11 ½-length romp in the Sept. 14 Polynesian in good order.

“We’re heading toward the Dirt Mile. We’re going to take him out there. The Polynesian was the prep,” she said before saddling a fifth straight winner at Laurel with 2-year-old filly first-time starter Gotanothathingcomn ($4.40) in Thursday’s Race 4. She added a second winner, 3-year-old gelding Derbyness ($5.80), also ridden by Jevian Toledo, in Race 8. “We’re all really excited.”

The Polynesian was the sixth stakes win for Post Time, five of them coming at Laurel including his first graded triumph in the Feb. 17 General George (G3), which was the last time he had raced over his home track. He then won the Carter (G2) and was second in the Westchester (G3) at Aqueduct and finished second in the Met Mile (G1) and third in the Whitney (G1) – his two-turn debut – at Saratoga.

“We got him a win. It was great to get him back in the winner’s circle at home,” Russell said. “I think he got enough out of it, which is always a concern when you’re thinking about the next step. There’s still something left in there. From a mental standpoint, I think we did what we wanted to accomplish. He thinks he’s the man. He came out of the race very, very good and that was sort of the goal.”

Post Time returned to the work tab for the first time since the Polynesian Wednesday over a fast main track at the Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md., where Russell’s string is overseen by assistant trainer and exercise rider Emma Wolfe, going four furlongs in 49.60 seconds.

“He’s great. He’s been training pretty aggressively since he ran,” Russell said. “That was a pretty easy race for him so he was back to work quick. I was going to breeze him last week, but we got a lot of rain and I was waiting for a good track. He did it easy, well within himself. It was kind of a great first work back off of the run.”

Post Time has the second-most points on the Dirt Mile points leaderboard with 22, five fewer than Preakness (G1) and Pennsylvania Derby (G1) winner Seize the Grey. National Treasure, Three Technique and Japan-based Crown Pride have all won automatic qualifying races.

Millionaires National Treasure and Skippylongstocking are also among horses pointing to the Dirt Mile. After running second to National Treasure in the Met Mile, Post Time finished ahead of both Skippylongstocking (fifth) and National Treasure (sixth) in the Whitney.

“We’ve been careful in how we’ve raced him. We haven’t overraced him or anything and he seems to be maintaining that level,” Russell said. “I feel like in a sense he needs to take a little bit more of a step up, and I’m hopeful that he can do it on the right day.”

Russell said her husband, champion jockey Sheldon Russell, will retain the call in the Dirt Mile. He has ridden 10 consecutive races on Post Time, who owns nine wins, two seconds, two thirds and $997,910 in purse earnings from 13 career starts.

“My first runner out there, we’re doing it together,” Brittany Russell said. “Even if he wasn’t going to be on him, it’s the team. The fact that he’s ridden him and he’s had so much success on him, it’s great.”

The burgeoning operation of trainer Brittany Russell has become a force with which to reckon since the native of Peach Bottom, Pennsylvania, went out on her own in 2018.

Making her mark with calculated and mindful horse placement, the 34-year-old won the Maryland training title in 2023—becoming the first woman to do so—and in 2024 has struck at a smart 21 percent with purse earnings good enough to be ranked 19th, nationally. The Maryland-based conditioner will take an admitted “big swing” on Saturday in the Grade 1, $1 million Whitney with 20-1 morning-line chance Post Time.

The Whitney is a “Win and You’re In” race for the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

“We know we’re in a tough race and he’s never been a mile and an eighth, but he seems to show up every time and that gives us a lo of confidence,” Russell said. “He’s become more mature physically and mentally as he’s aged and, while he’s still a bit of a character, he’s a very good horse and seems to always make his run.”

If the Maryland-bred son of 2016 Whitney winner Frosted hopes to emulate his sire, a fellow gray, he will have to do so from post 1, as well as improve upon his 6 1/4-length second to re-opposing National Treasure in the Grade 1 Hill ‘n’ Dale Metropolitan Handicap eight weeks ago. Racing two paths off the rail in fifth throughout much of the race, he passed three horses in the stretch and ultimately out-willed Hoist the Gold and Castle Chaos for runner-up honors.