follow us onFrom Aiken to Del Mar and the Breeders’ Cup!
POST TIME was selected and started by Cary Frommer
Courtesy of the Paulick Report
It is easy to tell what Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) contender Post Time thinks of himself. With a pep in his step and a glide in his stride, there is no denying the dual graded stakes-winning 4-year-old son of Frosted knows his worth.
“He has so much character,” trainer Brittany Russell said. “There’s something special about him, and you can see it. When you’re around him, he has an air about him, and we love it.”
When Hillwood Stable’s Post Time first steps foot on the track, he walks with his ears forward and his head held stoically, sizing up the horses around him and announcing his presence. As he makes his way from the backstretch chute to the main oval, exercise rider Emma Wolfe prepares for the show.
“I think he really enjoys being out there with the action and the people,” Russell said. “People are looking at him right now, and this is his game and his thing. Him and Emma have a really special thing going. She loves him and he knows that.”
The first few minutes are a rocky start for Wolfe, as she holds on resolutely atop a bucking and frolicking Post Time. Feeling good, it takes him almost a full lap of trotting before he is ready to get down to business.
“He bucks and rears and stuff like that, but he doesn’t do it maliciously,” Wolfe said. “He just wants to go train. It’s all he wants to do.
When Post Time’s mind settles on his work, so do the eyes of every track goer. The strapping gray coasts along with powerful strides and perfect rhythm.
“He’s quite strong, and he’s all business,” Wolfe said. “If you let him do his thing in the beginning, then he has a better gallop. But if you don’t let him do that, then he’s just mad the whole time.”
Post Time’s attitude and personality aren’t the only things that make him special. When he steps into the starting gate Saturday, he will be Russell’s first starter at a Breeders’ Cup, a feat she has accomplished in partnership with her husband, Sheldon, Post Time’s regular rider.
Together, Post Time and Sheldon have won six races, topped by the Carter (G2) in April at Aqueduct. Last out, they dominated the Polynesian on Sept. 14 at Laurel Park by 11 ½ lengths.
“Sheldon and I were talking about it and I said, ‘Isn’t it crazy that Post Time is taking both of us to the Breeders’ Cup?’ You sit down and really reflect on it, and it’s special,” Russell said. “A lot of people work really hard in this game for a long time and don’t get these opportunities. We’ve been really blessed. We’re so proud he’s taken us his far.”
Del Mar will be the sixth track Post Time has raced over, boasting wins at three of them and two Grade 1 placings over another this year when second in the Metropolitan Handicap and third in the Whitney at Saratoga.
“He shows up. It doesn’t matter where we run him. He shows up and runs his race,” Russell said. “It’s a matter of he has to bring his best race, and is it going to be good enough to win on Saturday?”
Regardless of the result, Post Time is certainly good enough to have earned an eternal place in the hearts of his trainer and team.
“That air, that confidence he carries, he thinks he’s the best,” Russell said. “He’s such a special individual and he’s nothing like I’ve ever been around. It’s so hard to describe. He’s just so special.”