With the Laurel Park spring meet upon us — following a two-week hiatus because of EHV-1 — we wondered: which jockeys and trainers were on fire at the end of the winter meet?

So we created a quick-and-dirty metric for the handicappers among us. The metric includes wins, win percentage, and wagering return on investment in one number. To limit it to who’s hot, we’ve included data from the last 15 or so live cards — since February 18, 2021.

JOCKEYS EN FUEGO

Sheldon Russell completed the winter meet on a lengthy heater, and he tops all riders with a score of 128 in the heat index. Russell won with 15 of his last 48 mounts (31%), the most wins and highest winning percentage of any rider in the colony.

Charlie Marquez, who won 13 times and posted a +6% wagering ROI, came in second with 104 points, while veteran Horacio Karamanos was third. Karamanos had a +58% ROI that was tops among all riders with more than one win.

Johan Rosado (9 wins, +5% ROI) and Angel Cruz (10 wins, 21% strike rate) complete the top five.

The average for all riders at Laurel Park was 50.3.

TRAINERS EN FUEGO

One reason Sheldon Russell tops the jockey heat index is because he’s the go-to rider for his wife, trainer Brittany Russell — and she tops the trainer list with a score of 107.

Brittany Russell won with seven of her last 17 starters (41%) to close the winter meet with a wagering ROI of -5%. That win total put her in a tie for second by wins, Her win percentage was the highest among trainers with more than three wins.

In second on the list is Carlos Mancilla. He won with four of 12 starters and had a gaudy +72% ROI to finish with 102 points. He was followed by Justin Nixon (2-for-5, including 41-1 Fritchie winner Hibiscus Punch), Claudio Gonzalez (colony-leading nine wins), and Jerry Robb (six wins, 27% strike rate).

The average for all trainers at Laurel Park was 43.1 points.