Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan
Pimlico
1 1/8 Miles
3 year old fillies
Purse: $175,000
Post time: 5:50 Eastern
- JP Fanshawe has a nice take on a little Pick 3 play involving races 11 - 13 in this FanShot.
- Morning line favorite Tidal Pool comes into the Black-Eyed Susan off a strong effort in the Kentucky Oaks just two weeks ago. Whit her sharp form and quick early foot, she'll be looking to take this field all the way around the track.
No Such Word ran behind Tidal Pool and Blind Luck in the Fantasy at Oaklawn last time out, but was a nice looking winner of the Honeybee prior to that. She might have to show a little more speed in this race in order to have a shot at the favorite.
The wild-card of this race is probably Harissa, winner of the Sunland Park Oaks in her last race after running so-so races at Santa Anita over the ProRide. It's possible that the switch to conventional dirt caused her to "wake up" a little bit. She's also one of the few fillies in this race that appears to want to run with Tidal Pool early on.
- The 10th race is one of those tricky little five furlong turf dash races featuring a big field and a bunch of horses that really love to lead races. It's tough to get excited about any of these colts when you look at their past performances, and the 11-Phosphorescent (5/2) definitely stands out with two strong efforts in his last two races at this distance at the Fair Grounds. If you play the Pick 3 or Pick 4, this is either a races where you are going very deep, or you're singling the chalk.
- The last race on the card is the Hilltop Stakes, a race at a mile and a sixteenth on the lawn. 11-Potosina (7/2) ran a pretty good race in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Filly Turf, she was just in over her head in terms of class that day. That won't be the case in this race, where her tactical speed and back class should be a distinct advantage.
I like 5-Joharmony (5/1) as a little bit of a price in this spot as she should be in decent form after firing a winner right off the bench at Keeneland in mid-April, and she's shown the ability to sit near or off the pace in his prior races. This filly might also have a bit of a post advantage over the favorite, who drew wide in a race that doesn't have a whole lot of racing room going into the first turn. If Joharmony can save some ground and take another step-up in her performance level, she's got a chance to take the top prize.