Experts’ Black-Eyed Susan day picks

  • userThe Biz
  • dateMay 16, 2025

Friday brings us Black-Eyed Susan day at Pimlico — the second-biggest day of the year in Maryland racing.

The card features a bevy of stakes, including the Grade 3 Pimlico Special and the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes. Those two events are among several that are extremely wide open on the card, so we enlisted our experts to see what they think.

Here are their picks:

RACE 10: GRADE 3 MISS PREAKNESS STAKES

  • Grade 3, $150,000
  • 6 furlongs, 3yo fillies
  • #9 Long Neck Paula and #12 Vodka with a Twist are scratched
  • After scratches #6 Stunner is the 4-1 morning line favorite for the same connections that brought Covfefe here to shatter the long-standing track record during her championship season in 2019…
Derby Bill WatsonNick HahnTed BlackJohn PiassekJoseph AielloEric RubinGary QuillMackenzie Pfeiffer
Win12. Vodka With a Twist8. Echo Sound4. G W’s Girl10. Mila Rose8. Echo Sound11. You’ll Be Back12. Vodka With a Twist4. G W’s Girl
Place3. High Paf5. Family5. Family7. Delray4. G W’s Girl2. Volleyballprincess8. Echo Sound6. Stunner
Show7. Delray6. Stunner6. Stunner6. Stunner6. Stunner6. Stunner6. Stunner8. Echo Sound

RACE 11: THE VERY ONE STAKES

  • $100,000 purse
  • 5 furlongs on the turf, fillies and mares three and up
  • #3 Pleasant Embrace (7-5) is scratched
  • #9 Loon Cry (9-5) is favored for Christophe Clement and won two stakes last year… Confronting her are #14 Accomplished Girl (3-1), a three-time stakes winner for Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, and the speedy #2 Bosserati (9-2), who took ‘em all the way versus the boys in the Maryland Million Turf Sprint for local trainer Brittany Russell…
Derby Bill WatsonNick HahnTed BlackJohn PiassekJoseph AielloEric RubinGary QuillMackenzie Pfeiffer
Win9. Loon Cry12. Simply Stated8. Moonlit Kiss9. Loon Cry2. Bosserati12. Simply Stated12. Simply Stated6. Gift of Gab
Place14. Accomplished Girl9. Loon Cry5. Mendys Honey12. Simply Stated9. Loon Cry9. Loon Cry9. Loon Cry12. Simply Stated
Show13. Maggie’s Girl14. Accomplished Girl2. Bosserati2. Bosserati12. Simply Stated2. Bosserati1. Anaita2. Bosserati

RACE 12: GRADE 3 PIMLICO SPECIAL

  • Grade 3, $250,000 purse
  • 1 3/16 miles, 3yo and up
  • #7 Pyrenees, the morning line favorite, is scratched
  • #8 Star of Wonder (7-2) inherits morning line favoritism after Pyrenees’ scratch
  • Other contenders include dominant Excelsior winner #1 Phileas Fogg (5-1); $2 million earner #9 Red Route One (8-1), fourth in this event a year ago; and local hopeful #2 Cataleya Strike (20-1), who won the Native Dancer last time out for trainer Rudy Sanchez-Salomon…
Derby Bill WatsonNick HahnTed BlackJohn PiassekJoseph AielloEric RubinGary QuillMackenzie Pfeiffer
Win3. Encino8. Star of Wonder9. Red Route One8. Star of Wonder1. Phileas Fogg8. Star of Wonder10. San Siro1. Phileas Fogg
Place8. Star of Wonder7. Pyrenees4. Awesome Aaron1. Phileas Fogg7. Pyrenees2. Cataleya Strike8. Star of Wonder8. Star of Wonder
Show6. Just Steel3. Encino2. Cataleya Strike4. Awesome Aaron8. Star of Wonder7. Pyrenees1. Phileas Fogg7. Pyrenees

RACE 13: GRADE 2 BLACK-EYED SUSAN

  • Grade 2, $300,000 purse
  • 1 1/8 miles, 3yo fillies
  • You can go any number of ways in this contest. The morning line favorite is #4 Runnin N Gunnin (5-2).
  • A pair of locals spice things up for the hometown fans in #7 Reply (8-1) for Brittany Russell and #9 Moon Cache (20-1) for Michael Gorham; they ran second and third, respectively, in the Weber City Miss at Laurel last out… #5 Kinzie Queen (10-1) looks to give trainer Greg Compton his first graded win…
Derby Bill WatsonNick HahnTed BlackJohn PiassekJoseph AielloEric RubinGary QuillMackenzie Pfeiffer
Win7. Reply7. Reply4. Runnin N Gunnin7. Reply3. Margie’s Intention8. Amarth6. Paris Lily8. Amarth
Place8. Amarth8. Amarth5. Kinzie Queen5. Kinzie Queen5. Kinzie Queen6. Paris Lily7. Reply7. Reply
Show3. Margie’s Intention4. Runnin N Gunnin7. Reply9. Moon Cache6. Paris Lily4. Runnin N Gunnin8. Amarth3. Margie’s Intention

OUR HANDICAPPERS ARE:

  • Nick Hahn, author of the eponymous Nick’s Picks for Colonial Downs.
  • Eric Rubin, host of Better Betting podcast
  • Gary Quill, co-host of Better Betting and former The Racing Biz Maryland handicapper
  • Derby Bill Watson, legendary former Colonial Downs on-air analylyst
  • Joseph Aiello handicaps Saratoga for The Racing Biz.
  • Ted Black is the Charles Town correspondent for The Racing Biz.
  • Mackenzie Pfeiffer is an on-air analyst for the Maryland Jockey Club

LATEST NEWS