It wasn’t Sheldon Russell’s weekend. Until suddenly it was.

Russell, the veteran jockey, went to Keeneland to ride the three-year-old filly Maida for his wife, trainer Brittany Russell. But that runner was a step slow leaving the gate and could rally only mildly into sixth in the Grade 2 Raven Run. Which was better than the 10^th-place finish his other Keeneland mount, The Minkster, managed in an earlier allowance.

His flight home Sunday morning was delayed. The stakes winner Worcester, his mount in Laurel Park’s $56,000 allowance Sunday co-feature, was scratched as unsound by the state veterinarian.

A washout, right?

Not so fast.

In the day’s other co-feature, another third-level allowance, this on the turf, Russell teamed up with Eff Thirty Five to mount a strong late rally to prevail by a neck. It was Eff Thirty Five’s sixth win from 17 career outings and pushed him over $210,000 in career earnings.

“It’s been a long day,” Russell allowed afterwards, “but I’ve always liked this horse.”

Eff Thirty Five, a four-year-old Pennsylvania-bred Yoshida gelding, is trained by Brittany Russell for The Elkstone Group LLC. He’s made the rounds, starting at seven different tracks in his career, from the Fair Grounds in Louisiana north to Presque Isle Downs in Erie, PA, with numerous stops in between.

The horse’s itinerant nature has meant that Sheldon Russell had been aboard just twice previously, scoring an easy win in a Laurel allowance/optional claimer in April and then, last out, finishing a close-up fourth in an allowance/optional claimer at Colonial Downs.

“When he won with me the first time here in the allowance race, I told you before. ‘I’m worried, because he’s a really strong horse. He sort of ran off with me,’” Russell said. “Then at Colonial Downs, you saw the real horse. He made about four runs with me down the backside, clipped heels, came eight-wide, hit the front, hung all over the place.”

In today’s contest, Monmouth shipper There Are No Words made the lead, as expected under rider Sonny Leon. A six-year-old New Jersey-bred California Chrome gelding trained by Chuck Spina, There Are No Words owns one of the more unusual streaks in racing: he has been second or third in 10 stakes at Monmouth since 2022 without winning one. That includes three consecutive runner-up finishes in the Oceanport and two in a row in the Red Bank.

There Are No Words led by a length after a half-mile in 48.06 seconds and 1 ½ lengths after three quarters in 1:11.68.

Eff Thirty Five, meanwhile, was in seventh – last – at that point and still 10 lengths away. But Russell wasn’t too concerned.

“He was nice and relaxed. Look, he’s probably a little further back than I wanted, but the way he ran into the first bend, he was just off the bridle,” Russell said. “I revved him up a little early, and it was just whether I’d get there in time.”

Tipped to the far outside in the lane, Eff Thirty Five came charging down the center of the track to run down 6-5 post time favorite Forever Souper and win by a neck in 1:35.72 for a mile over firm turf. Early leader There Are No Words held third, another three parts of a length behind.

Eff Thirty Five paid $8.80 to win as the second betting choice. The exacta returned $9.60 for a one-dollar wager.

It wasn’t a stakes win at Keeneland, sure, but it made for a better day than the one Russell had been experiencing. Eff Thirty Five, for his part, seemed to enjoy it just fine.

“He hit the line running. Couldn’t really pull him up,” Russell said. “Had to jog him home.”