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Friday’s Preakness weekend kickoff features a stellar day of racing at Pimlico, topped by the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (Race 13 of 14, post time 5:44 pm ET). It’s the fillies’ rendition of the Preakness Stakes over 1-1/8 miles at Old Hilltop.
Horseplayers betting Pimlico on Friday and Saturday this week can enjoy up to a $10 money-back special on win bets in all races if those selections finish second or third.
Let’s meet the contenders for the Black-Eyed Susan:
#1-Sacred Wish (John Velazquez/George Weaver) 10-1
Gulfstream Park Oaks runner-up seeks her first career stakes win. Filly she chased in Florida mustered only an 11th-place finish in the Kentucky Oaks. Daughter of Not This Time, who sired last year’s Preakness runner-up and favorite Epicenter. Trainer Weaver coming off a big weekend where he swept both stakes at Gulfstream Park. Jockey Velazquez has won the Black-Eyed Susan 4 times, most recently 2012 aboard In Lingerie.
#2-Pate (Jeiron Barbosa/Mike Maker) 20-1
Private purchase in February after a runner-up try in Oaklawn’s Dixie Belle Stakes sprinting. Flat sixth in OP’s Fantasy Stakes around 2 turns, behind eventual Kentucky Oaks fourth-place finisher and beaten favorite Wet Paint and fellow Black-Eyed Susan returnee Taxed. Daughter of 2010 Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver, who tired badly to be eighth in his Preakness bid. Maker won this race 2 years ago with Army Wife and will also saddle Towhead.
#3-Hoosier Philly (Edgar Morales/Tom Amoss) 10-1
Smashing wins in her first 3 starts had her buzzing on the Kentucky Oaks hotlists, but she’s been soundly beaten in both starts so far in 2023. Third in the Rachel Alexandra at 2-5 odds and fourth in the Fair Grounds Oaks at 6-5 as favorite. FG Oaks did produce the first and third-place finishers in the Kentucky Oaks (Pretty Mischievous and The Alys Look) and she comes into the Black-Eyed Susan off consecutive bullet workouts.
#4-Merlazza (Florent Geroux/Brad Cox) 6-1
Trainer Cox looks for back-to-back wins in this race after Interstatedaydream a year ago. He’ll also send out Comparative. This Medaglia d’Oro filly is a head from perfection, winning 3 straight since a debut runner-up in a photo finish. She’s been the odds-on favorite in each of her victories and will be tested for class after a minor stakes win at Oaklawn last month.
#5-Frosty O Toole (Joel Rosario/Todd Pletcher) 15-1
Last of 6 in the Gazelle Stakes in her first start since a private purchase. The former Mike Dini trainee is 2-for-2 at Tampa Bay Downs and off the board in 3 starts on other surfaces. Pletcher has won the Black-Eyed Susan 4 times (2005, 2007, 2012, 2014), and he also sends out Miracle in this race.
#6-Miracle (Irad Ortiz Jr./Todd Pletcher) 10-1
In search a breakthrough stakes victory, this Mendelssohn filly has lost 5 straight while hitting the board in 4 of those efforts. Out-finshed BES rival Hoosier Philly when runner-up in the Rachel Alexandra in February, beaten less than a length by eventual Kentucky Oaks winner Pretty Mischievous. Pletcher has won this race 4 times (2005, 2007, 2012, 2014) and. Pletcher also sends out Frosty O Toole in this field.
#7-Comparative (Luis Saez/Brad Cox) 12-1
After losing her first 4 starts, this daughter of 2007 Kentucky Derby winner and Preakness runner-up Street Sense has paired up victories. Well-bred runner is a granddaughter of the star filly Composure and is a full-sister to Indiana/Oklahoma Derby winner Shared Sense. Trainer Cox looks for back-to-back wins in this race after Interstatedaydream a year ago. He’ll also send out Merlazza. Jockey Saez won this race on the front end in 2016 with Go Maggie Go.
#8-Balpool (Manny Franco/Rob Atras) 8-1
She enters off back-to-back wins, but faced just 7 rivals combined in those Aqueduct outings. Won the off-the-turf Memories of Silver last out for her first stakes win. Jockey Franco has had the winning hand on her, going 3-for-3 (0-for-2 for other riders). Trainer Atras’ biggest career win came in the 3-year-old filly ranks with Maracuja in the 2021 Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga.
#9-Faiza (Flavien Prat/Bob Baffert) 7-5
Unbeaten filly owns 5 wins across Southern California’s circuit, a debut score at Del Mar, the Starlet at Los Alamitos and three Santa Anita graded stakes so far in her sophomore season. Bypassed the Kentucky Oaks, where she would have been among the top-3 wagering choices, for this spot. Purchased almost exactly one year ago at the nearby Timonium sale as a 2-year-old and returns to Maryland for a Baffert barn that has won the Black-Eyed Susan 3 times (1999, 2004, 2013). She has been bet to even-money or less in all 5 starts and may be again.
#10-Taxed (Rafael Bejarao/Randy Morse) 15-1
Claimed for $50,000 on November 20, this Collected filly had a productive winter and spring at Oaklawn, twice the runner-up behind Wet Paint, the eventual Kentucky Oaks favorite and fourth-place finisher. Her sire finished 10th in the 2016 Preakness after winning the Lexington. If you like price players, 3 times in her career Taxed has finished in the superfecta at 22-1 or higher odds.
#11-Cats Inthe Timber (Jevian Toledo/Brittany Russell) 30-1
The local Maryland hope in this year’s Black-Eyed Susan, she earned an automatic berth into this race with her half-length score in the Weber City Miss Stakes last month at Laurel. Honor Code filly has alternated losses and wins in her 6-race career and seeks back-to-back victories for the first time. Toledo and Russell are the circuit’s top jockey-trainer combination in recent years.
#12-Towhead (Tyler Gaffalione/Mike Maker) 20-1
Last year’s Kentucky Downs Juvenile Fillies Turf runner-up on grass seeks her first stakes win in 5 tries. Finished 9 lengths behind BES rival Taxed when off-the-board in Oaklawn’s Honeybee and also lacked punch most recently in the Fantasy. Maker won this race 2 years ago with Army Wife and will also saddle Towhead.
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