It's hard to believe that it is already time to discuss the Preakness, Black-Eyed Susan, and their undercards. It seems like we just finished handicapping the Derby and it's still sort of sinking in.
But despite the way I feel, the entries are out for the Preakness and the other Pimlico stakes races and I may as well get started. I'll begin with Friday's races, and the first one I shall discuss will be the Black-Eyed Susan Breeders' Cup Stakes.
PIMLICO, MAY 14th
RACE 12 ---- BLACK-EYED SUSAN BREEDERS' CUP STAKES (gr. II)
Nine Furlongs (Dirt)
This race, which is very similar to the Kentucky Oaks, drew a fascinating field of nine that will be almost as fun to watch as the Preakness. It's going to be tough to figure out who the best horse in the race is, but I'll try my best to pick the winner.
To begin, there is the number one horse, No Such Word. The 7-2 morning line second choice, the daughter of Canadian Frontier won the grade II Honeybee Stakes at Oaklawn Park back in March before running third behind Blind Luck and Tidal Pool in the Fantasy Stakes. She has a very good chance of winning here tomorrow, but does have questions to answer. She will carry 122 pounds. She will be ridden by Terry Thompson and is trained by Cindy Jones.
Then there is the number two horse, Seeking the Title. 5-1 on the morning line, the daughter of Seeking the Gold has many things going for her, including Kent Desormeaux, who was a top jockey at Pimlico for many years. She also gets to carry only 116 pounds. However, she comes into tomorrow's race off of a seven week layoff, as she has not raced since finishing in a dead-heat for third in the grade II Fair Grounds Oaks back in March. But she was only beaten three quarters of a length for the win, and it was only her third race, so she has the potential to run her best race tomorrow. She is trained by Dalles Stewart.
This brings us to the number three horse, Khancord Kid. The daughter of Lemon Drop Kid is 12-1 on the morning line and comes into the race off of a ten week layoff, having not started since winning the grade III Herecomesthebride Stakes on the turf at Gulfstream Park in early March. She could run a huge race off of that effort but has only raced on dirt once, in her first race. She ran seventh of eight, beaten nearly twenty-two lengths by the winner. Of course, I'm sure she has improved since then and should handle the dirt fine, but you never know. She will carry 122 pounds and will be ridden by Rajiv Marahj. She is trained by John C. Kimmel.
The number four horse could have a shot as well. Acting Happy, a daughter of Empire Maker, has only made three starts, winning her maiden race and running second in two allowance races. She has never raced at any track other than Gulfstream Park, and comes into the Black-Eyed Susan off of a seven week layoff, but looks ready to run an excellent race. Her last race wasn't great, but she was beaten only three quarters of a length by a horse that may end up in the Acorn Stakes next month, so she definitely has a chance. She will carry 116 pounds, will be ridden by Joze Lezcano, and is trained by Richard Dutrow. She is 10-1 on the morning line.
Then there is the number five horse, Harissa. The daughter of Afleet Alex is 5-1 on the morning line and has a huge shot at winning. Kept out of the Kentucky Oaks due to insufficient graded earnings, she has not raced in seven weeks but was very impressive in her last race, winning the Sunland Oaks in her first start on dirt by three and a half lengths while turning in a fairly good final time. She has finished in the top Tomorrow, she will carry 122 pounds, and will be ridden by Tyler Baze. She is trained by David Hofmans.
This brings us to the number six horse, Tidal Pool. The 8-5 morning line favorite, the daughter of Yankee Gentleman finished third in the Kentucky Oaks two weeks ago and comes right back to try and earn her first stakes victory. She is without a doubt the one to beat, and should run a great race. She will be ridden by Calvin Borel and is trained by D. Wayne Lukas. She will carry 116 pounds.
Then there is the number seven horse Patriot Miss. The 30-1 morning line longshot, the daughter of Quiet American has only made three starts, one at Charles Town, one at Laurel, and one at Penn National. She did not race as a two year old, but has been racing quite well this spring. She comes into tomorrow's race off of an eight week layoff, but could surprise a lot of people by running a good race. In her last start, she won a mile and seventy yard allowance race at Penn National by six lengths. She has raced in Maryland before, and has been training nicely. I would not be surprised if she won. She will be ridden by T. L. Dunkelberger and is trained by R. Jenkins. She will carry 116 pounds.
This brings us to the number eight horse C C's Pal. The daughter of third place finish, beaten a length, in the grade III Comely Stakes at Aqueduct. 20-1 on the morning line, she probably won't win but has a shot at hitting the board. She will be ridden by Eiber Coa and is trained by Derek Ryan. She will carry 116 pounds.
Finally, there is the number nine horse Diva Delite. The daughter of Repent is 8-1 on the morning line but has a great chance at winning the race. She has started sixteen times, winning half of them, and was on a five race winning streak before finishing third in the grade II Beaumont Stakes at Keeneland last month. But I'm going to assume that she didn't care for the track, and if you look at it that way it's hard to ignore her. With Julien Leparoux in the saddle, she can more than hold her own against this group. She is trained by Ian R. Wilkes.
So now that I have examined every horse, who do I like? Well, here are my picks. . .
1 Tidal Pool
2 Harissa
3 Diva Delite
4 Seeking the Title
5 Patriot Miss
6 C C's Pal
7 No Such Word
8 Acting Happy
9 Khancord Kid
It was a tough race to handicap, but those are my picks. I believe that Tidal Pool can be upset, but I couldn't decide who could do it. Harissa ran a great race last time out, and should run a great race. I love Diva Delite, and would love to see her win, but I don't think that she can. Seeking the Title has a great chance at winning, but I can't put everyone in the top three. Patriot Miss can run better than her odds say, but she probably won't win. Finally, I don't think that Khancord Kid can win this race seeing that it is on dirt. She might have a chance if it was on turf, but I don't think she can do it. But we'll see what happens.
And now that I am finished with this race, I shall announce my picks for the undercard races on May 14th.
UNDERCARD OF BLACK-EYED SUSAN
RACE 1
1 Yogi'ssplashofgold
2 Lucky You
3 Call of a Lion
4 I'llthinkofsumthin
5 Regretable Romance
6 Tidal Change
7 Congar Light
8 Sweetmygee
RACE 2
1 Swear Alliegence
2 May One
3 With Purpose
4 Goodness Gracious
5 Littlemissgrizzly
6 Apron Dancer
7 Valay Cat
8 Frocks Valley Girl
9 Flying Wildcat
10 Hurricane Carousel
11 Bea Lucky Please
12 Devil Denied
RACE 3
1 California Cool
2 Norjac
3 My Bullet
4 Skeleton Crew
5 Citigambler
6 Titanic Win
7 Lycurgus
8 Stone in Love
9 Love Me Later
10 Thorny
11 Mach Three
12 Show Us Ryan
13 Bo Diddley
14 Wildcat Jessie
RACE 4
1 Honor in Peace
2 Cleric
3 Rasher
4 Brogue
5 Chapel of Love
6 Agave Ridger
7 Sun Dance Moon
8 Mass Destruction
9 Dance with Butters
10 Temperance Time
11 Davina's Baby
RACE 5
1 Back to Therapy
2 Got It Covered
3 Gift From the Sea
4 Alwaysacontest
5 Jawise
6 Toe Shows
7 Swingamongthestars
8 Staged Affair
9 Star Flanker
RACE 6
1 Canadian Ballet
2 Starfish Bay
3 Ahvee's Destiny
4 Lady Rizzi
5 Rate of Exchange
6 Life Suzzona
7 Life Lesson
8 Always for Love
9 Daily Candy
10 Don'tgetsuspicious
11 Twiceasbeautiful
12 Mikeslittlegirl
13 Kosmo's Buddy
14 Bobolene
RACE 7
1 Dixieland Melody
2 Squabble
3 Pink Sand
4 Alpha Darlin
5 Lily Quatorze
6 Mac Speed
7 Thundering Rose
8 Armsglen
RACE 8
1 Heros Reward
2 Central City
3 Smart Enough
4 Philharmonic
5 Blue Sailor
6 Sacred Journey
7 Awakino Cat
8 Cardashi
9 Ju Jitsu Jax
10 Natural Seven
11 Local Celebrity
12 Disco Dandy
RACE 9
1 Cuff Me
2 Vindy Curt
3 Starlite Starbrite
4 High Five Gal
5 Argent Affair
6 For Royalty
7 Imanheiress
RACE 10
1 Oh My Me My
2 Phosphorescent
3 Live the Dash
4 Super Chunky
5 I Can Do It
6 El Commodore
7 Conceit
8 Ennis
9 Ronnies Footnotes
10 Access Love
11 Outquest
12 Beboping Lion
13 Circumventor
14 Billionaire Bob
RACE 11
1 Sweet Goodbye
2 Lights Off Annie
3 Rightly So
4 Rate of Exchange
5 All Giving
6 Streetscape
7 Don'tgetsuspicious
8 Sterling Vow
9 Beware of the Bop
10 What Time Is It
11 Mikeslittlegirl
RACE 13
1 Joharmony
2 Smart Seattle
3 Potosina
4 Worstcasescenario
5 Summer Shade
6 Kawiye
7 Miss Speak
8 Imanheiress
9 Littlemissgrizzly
10 Baltimore Belle
11 Kit Kats Luck
And those are my picks for the day. Enjoy the race! I'll be back tomorrow, or maybe tonight, with my picks for the Preakness and the undercard. I can't wait!
-Keelerman
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