LAUREL, MD - Two past Maryland-bred champions strutted their stuff over a sloppy racetrack on a wet, windy and raw Saturday afternoon at Laurel Park. Post Time, the Maryland-bred 2-year-old champion male of 2022, dominated five rivals in the $100,000 Jennings for statebred or -sired 4-year-olds and upward at one mile. The Jennings shared top billing on the 10-race program with the one-mile Geisha for fillies and mares who are Maryland-bred or -sired. Both races were originally scheduled for Jan. 20, but were postponed due to extreme winter weather. Post Time was sent off the odds-on favorite, and settled back in last as Holy Synchronicity, rail-drawn Seven’s Eleven and All Threes battled for early supremacy through an opening quarter of 24.03 seconds. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. Seven’s Eleven wisely backed off the other two pace protagonists after a half-mile clocking of 47.35 while Post Time began to build up steam under a confident Sheldon Russell. All Threes emerged with the lead turning into the long stretch after six furlongs in 1:12.19, but Post Time was simply cruising in behind the leader. Russell eased Post Time outside All Threes, and they stormed down the lane to score by 6 1/2 lengths in 1:36.73 seconds.  Seven’s Eleven re-rallied for the place and was 2 1/2 lengths better than All Threes. Double Crown, Dee Jay and Holy Synchronicity completed the order of finish. Joe and Dolice Vita scratched. Post Time returned $3.40 as the odds-on betting favorite. A quirky horse earlier in his career, Post Time has matured greatly, according to trainer Brittany Russell. Asked whether she was worried about Post Time reacting poorly to slop potentially being kicked back in his face, Russell said that she wasn’t concerned at all. “He trains up at Fair Hill now, and he came down here because we didn’t know if we were running last weekend,” Russell said in the winner’s circle. “He’s been a professional. I’ve been impressed with him every single day if he was locked in the barn, or if we had to go to the racetrack.” The inside was the place to be on Saturday and Sunday at Laurel, and Post Time drew the outside post in the Jennings. “Sheldon said when he came back that good horses, if they want to run today, they’ll run. It doesn’t matter what part of the racetrack they’re on,” Brittany Russell said. Brittany Russell said that she would consider Laurel’s Grade 3, $200,000 General George Stakes at seven furlongs on Feb. 17 as a potential next start for Post Time. “You hate that it’s back in three weeks,” Russell said, “We’re definitely going to see how he comes out of [the Jennings] and consider it. If he gives us any indication he needs more time, we’ll look elsewhere.” A son of Frosted out of stakes-winning turf router Vielsalm, Post Time was bred by Dr. & Mrs. Thomas Bowman, Dr. Brooke Bowman & Milton P. Higgins III. He was purchased by Mrs. Ellen Charles’s Hillwood Stable for $85,000 as a Fasig-Tipton October yearling in 2021. Post Time has won six of seven lifetime starts for career earnings of $297,910. The Jennings was his third stakes victory. *Geisha Not to be outdone, Malibu Moonshine, Maryland’s champion juvenile filly of 2022, rallied from off the pace to capture the Geisha for trainer Charlton Baker and jockey Angel Cruz. A notorious slow starter, Malibu Moonshine saved ground from well off the pace while Royal Whisper and I’m Gittin There cut the opening quarter in 24.59. Royal Whisper cleared off to the lead and the rail on the backstretch and continued to hold a sizable advantage after a half in 48.02 and three-quarters in 1:13.39. From there, it was a cavalry charge to the finish. Cruz saved as much ground as possible until the three-sixteenths pole, then angled out to split horses with a decisive run. They got up in a blanket finish with Northern Glow a neck behind in second and favored Royal Whisper another head back in third. Then came I’m Gittin There, Bella Bettina, Circle Home, Mavilus, Brooklyn Girl and Champagne Toast. “That was the plan because I know she breaks slow,” Cruz said about saving ground. “[Earlier in her career], she did the same thing going short. She come flying every time, and today she did it.” Cruz believes “the longer, the better” for Malibu Moonshine, who won for the first time since Laurel’s Gin Talking Stakes on Dec. 30, 2022.   Malibu Moonshine is by Bourbon Courage and was bred by Dr. Ronald Harris Parker. A $95,000 RNA as a Fasig-Tipton May juvenile, she is the third blacktype earner produced by stakes-placed Sunday in Malibu. Malibu Moonshine races for Happy Face Racing Stable, has won four of seven starts, and has earned $218,400. Like Post Time, all three of her career stakes victories have come at Laurel. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.