“This wasn’t at all what I wanted to do,” Brittany Russell was saying after Sunday’s eighth race at Laurel Park. “I didn’t want to run him back in three weeks, but when he’s ready, these races are there, and they go, you’ve got to be involved.”

The “him” in question was Rominski, the speedy six-year-old Great Notion gelding she trains for The Elkstone Group LLC. And the race was a six-furlong, open allowance with a $63,000 purse.

And as it turned out, Rominski was more than involved. Under jockey Sheldon Russell – Brittany Russell’s husband – Rominski pressed the speedy Spikezone before inching away to win by a half-length in 1:09.90 over a fast main track.

Spikezone, the 7-5 post time favorite following a 2024 season in which he won 11 races, held second, two lengths clear of Debit Card. He was ridden by Jaime Rodriguez for trainer Jamie Ness and owners Troy Johnson, Charles Lo, and his own Jagger Inc.

“He pretty much just puts him on a long rein,” Brittany said of Sheldon’s ride. “I mean, he rode him perfect.”

The win was Rominski’s sixth in a row and ninth in 10 outings. The first three of those wins came for trainer Kieron Magee and owner Tim Hopkins. Russell and The Elkstone Group claimed Rominski for $55,000 in May 2024 and gave him one more winning start.

Following that, Rominski was off from June 2024 until March 2, when he returned with a 1 ¼-length score at Laurel.

“He’s a racehorse. He just does the job,” Brittany Russell said, adding with a laugh, “Makes us look good.”

Rominski was bred in Maryland by David Wade. He is out of the winning Domestic Dispute mare Undisputed Legend.

The win gave Rominski 12 wins in 23 career outings and pushed his lifetime bankroll past $455,000. Rominski paid $5.20 to win and topped an exacta that returned $7.10 for one dollar.

Brittany Russell said that Rominski, with two starts in three weeks, would get a bit of r’n’r coming up.

“He’s definitely going to get a week up with the Fair Hill string because he deserves that,” she said. “He likes to just be turned out and drop his head. Treat him really good [and he’ll return the favor].”

NOTES A first-level allowance for three-year-olds going 1 1/16 miles drew a field of 10, including two runners, Change My World and Superpower, who scratched out of Saturday’s Private Terms to race here. Those two finished third and fifth in a race won by Just a Fair Shake, who surprisingly went off the 7-5 favorite and delivered a win by three parts of a length. Just a Fair Shake is trained by Daniel McKenzie for LaShawna Lynch and was ridden by JG Torrealba… The win there was one of two for Torrealba, who also took the nightcap aboard favored Mor Mor Mor… Camulus was injured and had to be euthanized following the seventh race, while Mr. Antonelli was pulled up and vanned off after getting injured in the eighth… Haileysfirstnotion posted a good-looking score in a Maryland-bred allowance for his third win in five starts. Jean Briceno was up for trainer Gary Capuano and owners Daniel Crowley and Non Stop Stable…