It didn’t take long for Hillwood Stable’s Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) runner-up Post Time to get back to business upon his return to Maryland.

Laurel Park-based trainer Brittany Russell said the 4-year-old Frosted colt, part of her string at the Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md. that is overseen by assistant and exercise rider Emma Wolfe, arrived Wednesday from Del Mar.

“He got back and he has been raising hell for 24 hours so he had to go gallop [Thursday],” Russell said. “Not that I’ve traveled with loads of good horses, but he travels really well.”

Post Time finished 1 ½ lengths behind upset winner Full Serrano in the Nov. 2 Dirt Mile, his third Grade 1 placing this year to go along with stakes wins in the General George (G3), Polynesian and Jennings at Laurel and Carter (G2) at Aqueduct. He also ran second in the Met Mile (G1) and third in the Whitney (G1), both at Saratoga.

“He’s got a Grade 1 with his name on it somewhere, I just have to figure it out,” Russell said. “The [Dirt Mile] winner ran great. He had a great trip. I’m not saying we didn’t or any excuse like that, but with his running style he’s running late and it’s a short stretch. You feel like maybe if there’s a little more [racetrack] maybe he gets there but, hey, that’s horse racing. We were delighted to be second.”

Never worse than third with nine wins from 14 starts, Maryland’s 2022 champion 2-year-old is under consideration for the Cigar Mile (G2) Dec. 7 at Aqueduct.

“With how he’s doing right now it’s kind of hard to really stop on him. I feel like we’ve taken pretty good care to space his races and things like that. It’s up to him. That’s kind of how we’ve gone with him all year,” Russell said. “We got lucky and he handled everything pretty well and he kind of asked for the next step.

“Emma was training him up there [Thursday] morning and she said he was a wild animal,” she added. “So after a race like that and him traveling back home from California, for him to act like that makes me feel pretty good that we can probably think about the Cigar Mile.”

Post Time has two wins – the Polynesian and Jennings – and three seconds in five tries at one mile and has raced twice at Aqueduct, following his Carter victory with a runner-up finish in the May 3 Westchester (G3).

“[The Cigar Mile] is five weeks from his last one and the way he seemed to have traveled home, we’re going to keep that on our radar and certainly consider it,” Russell said. “And if we have to sit and wait, he’ll get whatever he needs. It’s going to be up to him. We’re just going to see how he trains and go from there.”

Post Time became a fan favorite and social media darling during the Breeders’ Cup for his good looks and personality, which regularly sees him active and playful both before and after his morning exercise.

“He’s just entertaining. He’s pure entertainment, and he knows everybody’s looking at him. He loves that,” Russell said. “Besides his quirks in the morning, it was like pretty stress-free. He’s just good, so it was a little bit less of a worry for me. Once Emma survived getting him to the racetrack every day it was fine.”

Already the richest horse the 35-year-old Russell has trained since going out on her own in 2018, Post Time became her first millionaire following the Dirt Mile. He earned $170,000 for second, pushing his bankroll to $1,167,910. “How about that,” Russell said. “Now I need to get him to $2 million.”