Black-Eyed Susan Stakes 2025
A field of nine has entered the 2025 edition of the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes. Friday’s main event on Preakness Stakes weekend at Pimlico Race Course has a 5:44 p.m. ET post time and is one of three stakes races on the May 15 card.
None of the runners in the Kentucky Oaks are in the field here. Much like Saturday’s Preakness, this is a field lacking accomplished competitors, so this will be a big test over 1 ⅛ miles for the 3-year-old fillies in Race 13.
Black-Eyed Susan 2025 Entries, Horses, Jockeys, and Trainers:
| Post | Horse | Jockey | Trainer | Odds |
| 1 | Liam In The Dust | J. Velazquez | R. Brisset | 6-1 |
| 2 | Princess Aliyah | N. Juarez | D. Lukas | 15-1 |
| 3 | Margie’s Intention | F. Prat | B. Cox | 3-1 |
| 4 | Runnin N Gunnin | J. Ortiz | S. Asmussen | 5/2 |
| 5 | Kinzie Queen | J. Alvarado | G. Compton | 10-1 |
| 6 | Paris Lily | J. Rosario | B. Walsh | 8-1 |
| 7 | Reply | I. Ortiz Jr. | B. Russell | 8-1 |
| 8 | Amarth | L. Saez | E. Kenneally | 4-1 |
| 9 | Moon Cache | R. Mena | M. Gorham | 20-1 |
While accomplishments are pretty limited among the nine horses slated for the starting gate, there are a lot of strong bloodlines and connections this year. McKinzie sired two contenders – Kinzie Queen and Amarth – while we also have daughters of Into Mischief, Honor A. P., Liam’s Map, Gun Runner, Curlin, and City of Light.
Only two of the nine horses are coming off of wins, as Kinzie Queen won an April 16 AOC at Oaklawn Park and Paris Lily won an April 6 AOC at Keeneland. In total, there are 18 wins combined across the nine horses, no graded stakes wins, and only two listed stakes wins (Princess Aliyah, Runnin N Gunnin).
1. Liam In The Dust (6-1; Velazquez/Brisset): John Velazquez rode Gun Song for trainer Mark A. Henning to the winner’s circle in last year’s Black-Eyed Susan for his fifth win in this race and first since 2012. He is the only jockey with five wins in this race and could add another page to his Pimlico anthology by taking Liam In The Dust from the rail post to the win. The daughter of Liam’s Map and Whisper Louise has one data point at this distance, a show finish in the Demoiselle at Aqueduct back in December. Coming off the shelf, she was a disappointing eighth in the Busher on March 1, but ran better in a 1 1/16-mile effort at Keeneland last month, coming up short to BES rival Paris Lily.
2. Princess Aliyah (15-1; Juarez/Lukas): Legendary trainer D. Wayne Lukas is looking to end a 30-year drought in this race by sending Princess Aliyah to the starting gate. Lukas is a four-time winner of this event, but you have to go back to Serena’s Song in 1995 as his last victor. The filly from Into Mischief and Silver Colors will need to past a distance test here, as she won the one-mile Valley of the Vapors in April at Oaklawn and now comes in with a very quick turnaround off of a seven-furlong 10th-place showing out of 11 horses in the Eight Belles.
3. Margie’s Intention (3-1; Prat/Cox): Anytime you see “Prat and Cox” together, expect money to come in on that horse. That should be the case here with Margie’s Intention, who is leveling up in distance, but has two wins and two seconds in her last four showings. She was second to Blue Fire for the second straight race in the Crescent City Oaks at Fair Grounds after doing the same at the LA Broodmare of the Year Lipstick Junky. This will already be her fifth start of 2025, but first since March 22. Her father, Honor A. P., won at 1 ⅛ miles in the Santa Anita Derby for his first and only stakes win. We’ll see if it is her turn, as she did show potential at longer distances based on how she finished in sprints.
4. Runnin N Gunnin (5/2; Ortiz/Asmussen): There have been some pretty good fillies in the Steve Asmussen barn over the years, but a win in this race has evaded him. He’s got a great chance this year with Runnin N Gunnin, as sire Gun Runner could have a winner for the second straight year. Jose Ortiz gets the ride for the third-place finisher in the Fantasy Stakes and winner of the Sunland Park Oaks. Neither Quietside nor Simply Joking ran well in the Kentucky Oaks, but those were the two that Runnin N Gunnin was chasing in the Fantasy. And, interestingly enough, it was J. Ortiz who had the ride on Quietside that day. Now he rides Runnin N Gunnin. It is worth noting that six of Gun Runner’s last seven stakes wins came at this distance or more, so his daughter should be bred for the bump in her first start at 1 ⅛.
5. Kinzie Queen (10-1; Alvarado/Compton): Another horse running 1 ⅛ miles for the first time is Kinzie Queen. She is the most-raced filly in the field, with each of her last four starts coming at 1 1/16 miles and all of them from March 1 to April 26. She actually ran three times in March, running the Fantasy on just 12 days rest. She had four weeks off before winning her second career race on April 26. We haven’t had a ton of data points on McKinzie, as he retired from racing in 2020, but he was successful at virtually every distance.
6. Paris Lily (8-1; Rosario/Walsh): Two-time Black-Eyed Susan Stakes winner Joel Rosario will try to get the first win for Brendan Walsh atop Paris Lily, who draws the No. 6 post on Friday. This will be the graded stakes debut for the daughter of City of Light and Storm Lily. The Godolphin filly is one of the two horses coming off of wins, as she came back well from her turf debut at Fair Grounds to win at Keeneland, finishing ahead of Liam in the Dust. She has yet to run 1 ⅛, but she’s hit the board in both two-turn races at 1 1/16.
7. Reply (8-1; I. Ortiz/Russell): The fan favorite on Friday will be Reply. Deborah Bodner is the only female trainer to win the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes. Brittany Russell will try to become the second. The 35-year-old has a good horse, a great rider, and some nice connections, including Mike Repole. The daughter of Curlin won her maiden on March 14 and then finished second to Complexity Jane in the Weber City Miss Stakes at Laurel Park on April 19. She took to 1 1/16 miles fine at Laurel and now goes 1 ⅛ with a lot of optimism after not racing as a 2-year-old. Interestingly, stablemate Complexity Jane is running a mile on grass on Friday. Reply draws this assignment.
She’ll get a lot of love from the bettors on-hand and will probably close below where her odds should be, but she’s arguably the most promising runner in the field.
8. Amarth (4-1; Saez/Kenneally): The other entry by way of McKinzie is Amarth, who runs out of Green Lantern Stables. Luis Saez draws the ride for the third time in four races, as he also steered her in the Grade 1 Ashland Stakes last month and the Untapable listed stakes at Fair Grounds in her final scamper as a 2-year-old. She certainly has promise and you could argue that this field isn’t that much better than the Ashland, where she finished behind La Cara, Take Charge Milady, Muhimma, and Supaspeed. She was also second to Drexel Hill, who ran second in the Kentucky Oaks, in that Busher effort.
9. Moon Cache (20-1; Mena/Gorham): Local favorite Moon Cache goes from Laurel Park to Pimlico and she has a lot of experience running two-turn races. Five of her eight career starts have been 1 1/16 miles. She’s hit the board in four straight and five of six, including a trio of solid runs this year. She did finish behind Complexity Jane and Reply in the Weber City Miss, so she’ll have to level up to have a shot here. She hasn’t had many clean trips and has still been able to win some money, so she is a pretty intriguing wild card if Raul Mena can get a straighter trip.
Black-Eyed Susan Stakes Predictions
$20 Exacta Box: 7/8
$10 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes/Preakness Double: 7 Reply; 2 Journalism
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