Both Hazlewood and Russell also earned year-end honors as leading jockeys and trainers at the Maryland Jockey Club-operated racetracks.
Hazlewood, 17, a leading contender for the 2025 Eclipse Award for outstanding apprentice jockey, walked away with the autumn competition title, which ran from September 5 to December 28.
Hazlewood won 73 races at state, 38 more than second-place Jevian Toledo. Sheldon Russell and Jorge Ruiz finished in third place with 33 wins each. Hazlewood’s mounts earned $2,465,403 at the meet, well ahead of Toledo’s $1,516,243.
Hazlewood’s highlights included three afternoons of four wins, one in the high-profile Jim McKay Maryland Million program. He captured four stakes races at the meet, won at least one race on 23 consecutive race cards and ended the year in Maryland by winning three races on each of the final three days of racing.
Hazlewood, originally from Panama, earned his first career win on April 4. Despite a two-month layoff due to injuries, he achieved 95 wins in 2025 at Laurel Park and Pimlico Racecoursesurpassing Sheldon Russell by 15 wins. Toledo and Jaime Rodriguez finished third with 75 points on TMJC-operated tracks. Hazlewood also earned riding honors at the Maryland State Fair Meeting in Timonium last summer.
Sheldon Russell won the title at the Maryland Jockey Club-operated tracks. His horses realized $3,305,880. Hazlewood finished second with $3,241,308.
Brittany Russell trained 48 winners at the fall meet, 18 more than second-place finisher Jamie Ness. Michael Trombetta came third with 24 wins. Russell-trained runners earned $1,825,980. Trombetta finished second in earnings with $1,091,183.
She saddled 108 starters in Maryland this year, 25 more than Ness, who won the national title for most races won. Kieron Magee finished third at TMJC circuits in 2025, with 44 winners. Russell’s starters earned $4,111,245, and Ness came in second with $2,760,970.
Brittany Russell is married to jockey Sheldon Russell and is often accompanied in the winner’s circle by their daughter Edy and son Rye. Russell, 36, won eight stakes races during the event, including a double on December 20.
She has won four consecutive meet titles in the Maryland Jockey Club-run properties and the year-end title for the third year in a row. After stints as an assistant to trainers like Brad Cox, Jimmy Jerkens, Ron Moquett and the late Hall of Famer Jonathan Sheppard, Russell ventured out on her own in 2018 and won with her first starter, Oh my February 25, 2018, at Laurel.
Madison Avenue Racing Stable’s Collaborative Team, Morris Kernan Jr. and Jagger scored the fall meeting owners championship with 10 wins and $361,065 in earnings. Joanne Shankle finished second with nine wins and Live Oak Plantation was third with eight.
The partnership also had 26 winners at TMJC-operated properties in 2025. Shankle finished second with 20 wins.
The Laurel Park Winter Meeting begins Jan. 9 and runs through March 29. Live racing is held on Fridays and Saturdays in January and on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in February and March. The first post time is 12:00 PM ET. During opening week, all visitors to the track will receive a free 2025 Maryland race calendar, while supplies last.
This press release has been edited for content and style by BloodHorse Staff.
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