2024 Black-Eyed Susan Contenders at Pimlico

100th Black-Eyed Susan Stakes Set for May 17

Grade 3 winner Lemon Muffin will face four fellow stakes winners, as well as Grade 2-placed California shipper Corposo in a highly competitive milestone edition of the $300,000 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (G2) on Friday, May 17 at historic Pimlico Race Course.

The 100th running of the 1 1/8-mile Black-Eyed Susan Stakes for 3-year-old fillies highlights a spectacular 14-race program on Friday, May 17, that includes six stakes, three graded, worth $1 million in purses and serves as an exciting prelude to Saturday's 149th Preakness Stakes (G1), Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.

Other graded stakes on the Black-Eyed Susan program are the historic $250,000 Pimlico Special (G3) for 3-year-olds and up at the Preakness distance of 1 3/16 miles and $150,000 Miss Preakness (G3) for 3-year-old fillies sprinting six furlongs.

Rounding out the stakes action are the listed $100,000 Allaire du Pont Distaff for fillies and mares 3 and up going 1 1/8 miles and a pair of scheduled turf events - the $100,000 Hilltop for 3-year-old fillies at one mile and $100,000 The Very One, a five-furlong dash for females 3 and older.

First-race post time Friday is 11:30 a.m. EST. Post time for the Black-Eyed Susan, carded as Race 13, is scheduled for 5:44 p.m. EST.

Aaron Sones and Julie Gilbert's Lemon Muffin can add her name to the list with a repeat of her performance in the 1 1/16-mile Honeybee (G3) Feb. 24 at Oaklawn Park, her maiden triumph after racing five times previously with four consecutive runner-up finishes. By multi-millionaire Collected, who won five graded-stakes including the 2017 Pacific Classic (G1), she graduated by 3 ½ lengths at odds of 28-1.

Following the Honeybee, Lemon Muffin ran seventh in the Fantasy (G2) at Oaklawn and, most recently, eighth in the 1 1/8-mile Kentucky Oaks (G1) May 3, both times to Thorpedo Anna, the latter after breaking a step slow and racing near the back of a 14-horse field before improving her position late.

Trainer D. Wayne Lukas has had the most Black-Eyed Susan starters since 1976 with 18 and is tied with former protégé and fellow Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher for the most wins with four, the most recent coming with Serena's Song in 1995.

"She has her days when she's up and down and everything. On her best day, she's a very, very nice filly," Lukas said of Lemon Muffin. "But she doesn't always show up every time, so we're hoping that we get one of those days when she does."

Flavien Prat is named to ride from Post 3 in a field of eight at topweight of 124 pounds, yielding from two to six pounds to her rivals.

R. Larry Johnson's Maryland homebred Call Another Play earned an automatic bid to the Black-Eyed Susan thanks to a 3 ½-length victory in the 1 1/16-mile Weber City Miss April 20 at Laurel Park, her third consecutive win.

"It was good. I was very happy with her," trainer Mike Trombetta said of her stakes debut. "She had a real good chance in there if she ran her race, and she probably did a little better than we expected."

Maryland's leading rider in 2023, Jaime Rodriguez, has been aboard for the entirety of her win streak and returns from Post 4 on Call Another Play, who ran twice for a $40,000 tag before her breakthrough victory.

"She just finally caught some continuity and she's figuring things out in these two-turn races. She's been able to handle it," Trombetta said. "She's going to have to step up her game, it's just a matter of how much."

Cash is King and LC Racing's Jeanne Marie ran second in the Weber City Miss, her second straight race around two turns following a front-running triumph in the one mile, 70-yard Main Line March 5 over her home track of Parx. Her trainer, Robert E. `Butch' Reid Jr., ran sixth with Morning Matcha in the 2022 Black-Eyed Susan.

"She's a tough little filly," Reid said. "She's not very big, about 900 pounds I think she weighed last time. She kind of had to check back a little bit on the turn and then came on again and was finishing well at the end. That was her second time around two turns, so we expect her to even improve off that one."

Mychel Sanchez has the call from Post 1.

Peter Callahan and James Reiley McDonald's Ringy Dingy is entered to make her season debut in the Black-Eyed Susan for trainer Danny Gargan. The Dialed In filly raced four times at 2, breaking her maiden second time out and pulling away to a 6 ¼-length score in the one-mile White Clay Creek last fall at Delaware Park. She has not raced since running seventh in the 1 1/8-mile Demoiselle (G2) over a muddy Aqueduct surface Dec. 2.

Regular rider Katie Davis, formerly based in Maryland, has the assignment from Post 2.

Recharge, bred and owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds, will be looking to give Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen a first Black-Eyed Susan victory in his fifth try. The daughter of Gun Runner reeled off three consecutive wins to open her career capped by the one-mile Sunland Park Oaks Feb. 18, before having her streak snapped when fifth in the Fantasy.

"She's the Sunland Park Oaks winner; it's a good spot," Asmussen said.

Joel Rosario, who, like Gun Runner, will be inducted into the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame this summer, rides from outermost Post 8.

Madaket Stables and Slam Dunk Racing's Corposo will be making her second straight graded-stakes start around two turns in the Black-Eyed Susan, after running third in the 1 1/16-mile Santa Anita Oaks (G2) April 6. It will be another progression in distance for the daughter of 2019 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) winner and champion older male Vino Rosso, having raced at 6 ½ furlongs and one mile in her first two starts.

"I don't think she's going to cry about the distance too much, at least that's what her jocks are always telling me," trainer Peter Eurton said. "From the time I've had with her, everything's been pretty straightforward with her. She's got a great mind. She's a solid filly, a good 1,100 pounds or better. Nothing seems to bother her at all. I've never really seen her sweat too much, either. It's good."

Tyler Gaffalione has the call from Post 7 for Eurton, who ran seventh with She's a Warrior in the 2016 Black-Eyed Susan.

"I think you have to have the right mindset to travel for one, and to go into Pimlico, too," he said. "The last time I was there, the weather was very humid. I think my filly just kind of melted."

R. Lee Lewis' Gun Song, also by Gun Runner, will get the chance to rebound in the Black-Eyed Susan after encountering some early trouble and finishing fourth in the 1 1/16-mile Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) March 30. The top two finishers, Power Squeeze and Ways and Means, came back to run sixth and fourth, respectively, in the Kentucky Oaks.

"It was kind of a weirdly run race in general," trainer Mark Hennig said of the Gulfstream Park Oaks. "Down the backside Ways and Means kind of made that move in the middle of the race that kind of changed the complexion of the race, I would say, to a certain extent. I think [Gun Song] got a little tired and it didn't unfold the way we hoped. She was always in between horses. She just had somewhat of a funky trip."

Gun Song will break from Post 5 with John Velazquez up. Velazquez is tied with fellow Hall of Famer Chris McCarron for the most Black-Eyed Susan wins since 1976 with four, the most recent on In Lingerie in 2012.

"She's had some nice breezes since her last race and we happened to give her more time just because of the spacing, but she's doing super," Hennig said. "We're going to give her a shot."

Completing the field is Courtlandt Farm's Whocouldaskformo, a $450,000 daughter of champion Uncle Mo trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, whose lone Black-Eyed Susan victory came with Mesabi Maiden in 1996. Whocouldaskformo broke her maiden in her juvenile finale at Aqueduct and is 0-for-3 this year, running second in the one mile, 40-yard Suncoast at Tampa Bay Downs, fifth in the one-mile Davona Dale (G2) at Gulfstream and fourth in the 1 1/8-mile Gazelle (G3) April 6 at Aqueduct in her most recent start.

Making its debut in 1919 as the Pimlico Oaks, the Black-Eyed Susan was not run from 1932-36 and again in 1950, and was renamed upon its 1951 return to honor the Preakness and Maryland's state flower. Nine of its winners have gone on to be named champion 3-year-old filly including Hall of Famers Davona Dale, Real Delight, Royal Delta, Serena's Song, Silverbulletday and Twilight Tear.

Among other prominent Black-Eyed Susan winners are Hall of Famer Gallorette; Nellie Morse, the only filly to also win the Preakness, in 1924; But Why Not, Caesar's Wish, High Voltage, Vagrancy, Wide Country and Wistful.

Kentucky Oaks Winner Thorpedo Anna Headlines Black-Eyed Susan Nominees

May 8 - Kentucky Oaks (G1) victor Thorpedo Anna, fellow graded-stakes winners Lemon Muffin, Manama Gold and My Mane Squeeze, and local stakes winners Call Another Play and Miss Harriett head a list of 30 3-year-old fillies nominated to the $300,000 George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (G2) at historic Pimlico Race Course on Friday, May 17.

The 100th running of the 1 1/8-mile Black-Eyed Susan highlights a spectacular 14-race program that includes six stakes, three graded, worth $1 million in purses that serves as a fitting prelude to the 149th Preakness Stakes (G1), the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown, Saturday, May 18.

Entries will be taken and post positions drawn for all Black-Eyed Susan Day stakes on Sunday, May 12.

Thorpedo Anna posted a front-running 4 ¾-length upset of the 1 1/8-mile Oaks May 3 under trainer Brian Hernandez Jr. for trainer Ken McPeek, who teamed up the next day to upset the Kentucky Derby (G1) with Mystik Dan. In her Oaks prep, Thorpedo Anna scored by four lengths in the 1 1/16-mile Fantasy (G2) March 30.

Lemon Muffin, trained by Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas, ran eighth in the Oaks and seventh in the Fantasy following her 3 ½-length triumph in the Feb. 24 Honeybee (G3), her lone win to go along with four seconds from eight starts. My Mane Squeeze put together three consecutive stakes wins against New York-breds before finishing eighth as the favorite in the Fantasy, rebounding to spring a 6-1 upset of the seven-furlong Eight Belles (G2) May 3.

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher nominated Manama Gold, a Louisiana-bred daughter of Star Guitar that is unbeaten in three starts, all in Dubai, the most recent a 1 ¼-length victory in the 1 3/16-mile UAE Oaks (G3) Feb. 23.

Call Another Play earned an automatic berth in the Black-Eyed Susan off her 3 ½-length win in the 1 1/16-mile Weber City Miss April 20 at Laurel Park for trainer Michael Trombetta. Runner-up Jeanne Marie and third-place finisher Miss Harriett, herself a Laurel stakes winner at both 2 and 3, are each nominated.

Trainer Brad Cox nominated four horses including Grade 1 and Grade 2-placed Impel and stakes winner West Omaha, most recently second to Thorpedo Anna in the Fantasy. Among other prominent nominees are Corposo, a last-out third in the April 6 Santa Anita Oaks (G2), and stakes winners Aoife's Magic, Recharge, Ringy Dingy and Tapit Jenallie.

Heading the supporting stakes is the historic $250,000 Pimlico Special (G3) for 3-year-olds and up going the Preakness distance of 1 3/16 miles, which attracted 38 nominations including Skippylongstocking, a multiple graded-stakes winner of nearly $2.3 million that earned an automatic berth for his victory in the April 20 Oaklawn Handicap (G2); fellow graded-stakes winners Disarm, fourth in the 2023 Kentucky Derby (G1) unraced since a runner-up finish in the Travers (G1) last August; Red Route One, fourth in the Preakness 148; Double Crown, Instant Coffee, Kingsbarns, Last Samurai, Magic Michael, Money Supply, Royal Ship, Tumbarumbra and Two Rivers Over.

A total of 39 3-year-old fillies were nominated to the $150,000 Miss Preakness (G3) sprinting six furlongs, led by multiple stakes winner and twice graded-stakes placed Youalmosthadme, Grade 3-placed Here U Come Again and undefeated Almostgone Rocket from trainer Cox; and multiple stakes winners Carmelina, Closing Act, Hot Beach, Let Them Watch and Mystic Lake.

Taxed, upset winner of last year's Black-Eyed Susan, is among 26 nominees to the listed $100000 Allaire du Pont Distaff for fillies and mares 3 and up going 1 1/8 miles, along with 2023 Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) winner Wet Paint, fellow graded-stakes winners Bellamore, Occult and Shotgun Hottie and Grade 1-placed Free Like a Girl and Julia Shining.

Two of the undercard stakes are scheduled for the turf, the $100,000 The Very One for fillies and mares 3 and up and $100,000 Hilltop for 3-year-old fillies. Thirty-four horses were nominated to the five-furlong The Very One including Kaufymaker, third in the 2023 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2); 2023 Franklin (G2) winner Tony Ann; and stakes winners All That Magic, Bosserati, High Class, Lady Milagro, Medalla Match and Toupie.

Most popular among horsemen with 58 nominations was the one-mile Hilltop, among them 2023 Natalma (G1) winner She Feels Pretty and Irish Group 3 winner Kairyu, both trained by Cherie DeVaux; graded-stakes placed Buttercream Babe, Crown Imperial, Hot Beach, Lady de Berry and Simply in Front; and multiple stakes winner Nice as Pie, who has strung together four consecutive victories.

Debuting as the Pimlico Oaks in 1919, the race was not run from 1932-36 and 1950, returning in 1951 as the Black-Eyed Susan to honor both the Preakness and the Maryland state flower. Notable winners have included Nellie Morse, the only filly to also go on to win the Preakness, in 1924; and champions Vagrancy, Twilight Tear, But Why Not, Wistful, Real Delight, Office Queen, Davona Dale, Serena's Song, Silverbulletday and Royal Delta.

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