BALTIMORE – Throughout her still young but meteoric career, Brittany Russell has often been in a class by herself. Only the fourth female trainer ever to win a meet title in Maryland in the spring of 2022, she became the first to do it more than once and now has nine to her credit, the most recent coming at the Laurel Park stand that ended May 4.
In 2023 Russell made history as the first woman to lead Maryland’s annual standings in wins by a trainer at Laurel and Pimlico Race Course, a feat she repeated in 2024. Next weekend, the 35-year-old Russell will take aim at winning one of the most prestigious races on her home circuit on one of the biggest stages in racing.
Russell will saddle Repole Stable’s Reply in the $300,000 George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan (G2) Friday, May 15 at Pimlico. The 101st running of the 1 1/8-mile event for 3-year-old fillies headlines a spectacular 14-race program that includes six stakes, three graded, worth $1.05 million in purses and serves as a fitting prelude to Saturday’s 150th 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 $125,000 Allaire du Pont Distaff for fillies and mares 3 and up going 1 1/8 miles and a pair of scheduled turf events – the $125,000 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. ET. Post time for the Black-Eyed Susan, carded as Race 13, is scheduled for 5:44 p.m. ET.
Only one female trainer has ever won the Black-Eyed Susan, Deborah Bodner, who also owned 1997 heroine Salt It. Russell is the most recent to try it, finishing sixth with 63-1 longshot Cats Inthe Timber in 2023.
Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. has been named on Reply.
“It’s great to be in a race like this, especially with [a filly] that I’ve been fond of for quite some time,” Russell said. “To have one for [Mike] Repole, here at home, it means a lot. Obviously, I want one for the Preakness. I’m still looking for that horse, but we’ll take aim at the Black-Eyed Susan this year. You’ve got to dream, right? You just hope they show up on the day.”
Reply is a lightly raced daughter of 2007 Preakness winner, two-time Horse of the Year and 2014 Hall of Famer Curlin that will be making just her third start in the Black-Eyed Susan. Unraced at 2, she debuted with a 2 1/2-length maiden special weight triumph going one mile March 14 at Colonial Downs.
Most recently Reply overcame and inside draw and some early trouble to rally from last to be second, beaten less than a length by undefeated stablemate Complexity Jane, in the 1 1/16-mile Weber City Miss April 19 at Laurel. Complexity Jane earned an automatic berth in the Black-Eyed Susan for her victory but is entered instead in Friday’s $100,000 Hilltop, also for 3-year-old fillies, scheduled for one mile on the grass.
“Completely different running style [from Complexity Jane],” Russell said. “She’s just a big, grindy filly. There’s no early foot to her at all. She’s kind of a funny filly mentally, actually. She’s improved a lot since I’ve had her. There might be a little more improve in her. Distance won’t be an issue, and a little bit of a pace setup in front of her wouldn’t hurt.”
Also exciting the Weber City Miss is Original 6 Stable’s Moon Cache who finished third, just a head behind Reply, after bobbling at the start and getting bumped in deep stretch. Claimed for $40,000 out of a Feb. 22 win at Laurel, she crossed the wire first by a nose in Laurel’s one-mile Beyond the Wire April 19 but was disqualified to second for interference.
“We were looking for a spot and the stake came up and I figured she was doing really good so we decided to run her in there,” trainer Mike Gorham said. “She won the race and got disqualified on a little bump right at the wire. But she basically got across the wire first.
“She came back and I thought she ran a big race finishing third,” he added. “She got the worst of it. She stumbled leaving the gate and she was out in the 7-hole and she got probably a little bit wide around the first turn and got bumped in the stretch and still only got beat three-quarters of a length for everything. This race will be a little extra distance, another sixteenth of a mile, and I think she’ll handle that without a problem.”
Douglas Scharbauer’s Runnin N Gunnin, by Hall of Famer Gun Runner, won the one-mile Sunland Park Oaks Feb. 16 in her second start at 3 and comes out of a third-place finish behind two-time graded-stakes winner Quietside and dual stakes winner Simply Joking in the 1 1/16-mile Fantasy (G2) March 29 at Oaklawn Park. Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, racing’s all-time leader with 10,872 career victories, is seeking his first in the Black-Eyed Susan.
Storyteller Racing and Michael Schroeck’s Liam in the Dust also brings graded experience to the Black-Eyed Susan. Trained by Rodolphe Brisset, the daughter of Liam’s Map was second to La Cara in the one-mile Pocahontas (G3) last fall in her second start, and was third in the 1 1/8-mile Demoiselle (G2) in her juvenile finale. She ran second by less than a length to Paris Lily in a 1 1/16-mile optional claiming allowance April 6 at Keeneland last time out.
Godolphin’s Paris Lily, a homebred daughter of City of Light, led all the way to register a three-quarter-length triumph over Liam in the Dust. It was her second start at 3 after winning one of three races as a 2-year-old, breaking her maiden by a head going one mile last fall at Churchill Downs.
“She’s doing really well,” trainer Brendan Walsh said of Paris Lily, who has been the regular workmate for Preakness contender and Lexington (G3) winner Gosger. “She’s working a lot better than she did at any point through the year. I’m looking forward to her, actually.”
Green Lantern Stables’ Amarth comes to the Black-Eyed Susan after finishing fifth behind La Cara in the 1 1/16-mile Ashland (G1) April 7 at Keeneland. In her prior start she was second, beaten less than a length by subsequent Kentucky Oaks (G1) runner-up Drexel Hill, in the one-mile Busher Invitational March 1 at Aqueduct.
“She ran quite well in the Ashland,” trainer Eddie Kenneally said. “She worked [May 9] the at Keeneland and is doing great. Her form is quite good. The spacing of the races is good and she’s good right now, so it’s a logical spot for her and I think she’ll be competitive in that race.”
BC Stables, Morplay Racing and Joey Platts’ Princess Aliyah stretches back out around two turns and makes the quick, two-week turnaround to the Black-Eyed Susan after running 10th in the seven-furlong Eight Belles (G2) on the Kentucky Oaks undercard. One race earlier, she stalked the pace before getting up to capture the one-mile Valley of the Vapors April 19 at Oaklawn Park.
“We sprinted her in the Eight Belles, and I don’t think that is her cup of tea. The Black-Eyed Susan is 1 1/8 miles and it will be kind of an experiment for her. I definitely think she is better at two turns,” 89-year-old Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas said. “She won the Valley of the Vapors and looked really good doing it. We just think she’s probably better at two turns. We’ll see. She should like that surface. It’s a good spot to find out where we’re at with her.”
Baron Stable and WinStar Farm’s Margie’s Intention has two wins and two seconds in four tries this year, all with Walsh as trainer, but was moved to Brad Cox after part interest in the Honor A.P. filly was sold to WinStar. Both her runner-up finishes came by 1 1/2 lengths in Louisiana-bred stakes, most recently the one-mile, 70-yard Crescent City Oaks March 22 at Oaklawn Park.
“She showed some [speed] figures that we felt she’d be able to compete at the graded-stakes level with the 3-year-old fillies going forward,” Cox said. “She’s trained very well. Obviously this is a big step up here into graded company, but we think she’ll like the mile and an eighth. She’s had plenty of time since her last race, so we’ll see where we are.”
Completing the Black-Eyed Susan field is John Holleman and Compton Racing’s Kinzie Queen, like Amarth a daughter of four-time Grade 1-winning multimillionaire McKinzie. Trained by Greg Compton, she rebounded from a distant fifth in the Fantasy to score by 2 1/2 lengths in a 1 1/16-mile optional claiming allowance April 26 at Oaklawn Park.
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.
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