Brittany Russell is on the verge of making history—and she's doing it right at home. When she saddles Taj Mahal for Saturday's 151st Preakness Stakes at Laurel Park, she could become the third woman in as many years to win a Triple Crown race as a trainer. It's a remarkable run: Cherie DeVaux broke through with Golden Tempo in the Kentucky Derby just two weeks ago, following Jenna Antonucci's 2023 Belmont Stakes victory with Arcangelo. Now Russell has a chance to complete the sweep.
"It would 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."
What makes this potential milestone even more special is the setting and the rider in the saddle. For the first time ever, the Preakness is being run at Laurel Park—Russell's home track, just off I-95 between Baltimore and Washington, D.C. And the jockey aboard Taj Mahal? Her husband, Sheldon Russell. If they pull it off, they'd be the first married couple—at least as trainer and jockey—to win a Triple Crown race.
"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," Sheldon Russell told the Associated Press. "Just like a normal day, really."
For the Russell family, Saturdays at Laurel Park are a regular routine. Their 6-year-old daughter Edy and 4-year-old son Rye are expected to be in attendance, just as they were when the family traveled cross-country to the Breeders' Cup at Del Mar in 2024. That day, Post Time—trained by Brittany and ridden by Sheldon—finished second in a world championship mile-long dirt race, giving the kids an early taste of the big stage.
"That was a big event for them," Sheldon Russell recalled. "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."
No travel, no fuss—just a home-track advantage and a shot at history. Whether or not Taj Mahal delivers, the Russells are already part of a story that's rewriting the record books in horse racing.