Black-Eyed Susan Stakes 2026
The Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes is the highlight of the Friday card at Laurel Park during Preakness Stakes weekend. Race 13 on the May 15 program will have 10 horses that are pretty much all going to be tested for class here. This is the 3-year-old filly race that accompanies the legs of the Triple Crown and does not have any runners from the Kentucky Oaks, which was won by Always a Runner.
The distance is still 1 ⅛ miles for this race, even though it will be held at Laurel Park for the first time. The race was extended out to that distance back in 1989, when the prize pool also got bumped up to $250,000. This year’s purse will be $300,000. Post time is scheduled for 5:17 p.m. ET.
Here are the post positions, horses, jockeys, trainers, and odds for the 2026 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes:
Black-Eyed Susan Stakes 2026 Entries, Horses, Jockeys, and Trainers:
| Post | Horse | Jockey | Trainer | Odds |
| 1 | Miss Fulton Gal | J. Velazquez | M. Gorham | 30-1 |
| 2 | Ivy Girl | V. Carrasco | A. Green | 15-1 |
| 3 | Holly’s Holiday | F. Prat | K. McPeek | 6-1 |
| 4 | Savor It | M. Sanchez | U. St. Lewis | 30-1 |
| 5 | Braken Poppa | J. Ortiz | S. Asmussen | 7/2 |
| 6 | Haute Diva | K. Asmussen | P. Biancone | 15-1 |
| 7 | Jumping the Gun | L. Saez | A. Simoff | 3-1 |
| 8 | Majestic Lucia | J. Alvarado | V. Barboza Jr. | 12-1 |
| 9 | A. P.’s Girl | I. Ortiz Jr. | P. Eurton | 5-1 |
| 10 | My Miss Mo | T. Gaffalione | S. Joseph Jr. | 7/2 |
While Jumping the Gun was installed as the 3-1 favorite, Braken Poppa and My Miss Mo were priced at 7/2, and then A. P.’s Girl was listed at 5-1, so this looks to be a competitive field. There are some long shots out there, but the majority of the field seems to have a chance to take down this one.
Honor A. P.’s daughter Margie’s Intention won this race for Brad Cox and Flavien Prat last year, so we’ll see if he can produce another winner with A. P.’s Girl from the 9 post for Irad Ortiz Jr. and Peter Eurton.
Let’s look at all 10 horses in the field.
1. Miss Fulton Gal (30-1; Velazquez/Gorham): The hometown underdog has the rail post here, as Miss Fulton Gal has two wins and two places at Laurel Park in her six starts. But, this will be a big step up in class. She ran a disappointing fourth in the Weber City Miss Stakes last month to snap a two-race winning streak. While she’s won some money and some lower-tier races, the daughter of Rock Your World and Leah Forestiere doesn’t have impressive speed figures.
2. Ivy Girl (15-1; Carrasco/Green): Amelia Green trains this daughter of Maxfield and Victor Carrasco gets the ride after winning the Weber City Miss Stakes on Apr. 18. She got off to an awful start, but closed exceptionally well in the 1 1/16-mile race. She beat A. P.’s Girl, who has a much shorter 5-1 price tag here, and also Jumping the Gun, who was listed as the morning line favorite. Ivy Girl was a non-factor in the Demoiselle last year at Aqueduct, but she’s been better and more consistent as a 3-year-old with a second and two wins.
3. Holly’s Holiday (6-1; Prat/McPeek): After a brutal start to her career last season, Holly’s Holiday has fired as a 3-year-old, breaking her maiden at Oaklawn Park in March and following that up with an impressive win in the Valley Of The Vapors Stakes. Emmanuel Esquivel had that ride over a mile and hit at nearly 22-1 with a win by just shy of two lengths. Without much top-end speed in this race, we’ll see if the pace is good or bad for her, as Prat will probably sit in the pocket a bit before putting the throttle down.
4. Savor It (30-1; Sanchez/St. Lewis): The daughter of Vino Rosso and Chalonitka is coming off of a win and arguably the best performance of her career, but she failed to factor at all in two non-graded stakes races. Maybe the layoff really helped, as she ran a ton in 2025, making seven starts from Aug. 20 to Dec. 30. She came back on Apr. 13 and won an allowance race, so maybe she’ll be a good undercard wager as the summer goes on, but she’s outclassed here.
5. Braken Poppa (7/2; J. Ortiz/Asmussen): Some strong connections, a great rider, and a trend line pointing up are all positives here for Braken Poppa, the daughter of Aurelius Maximus and Fab Fox. After finishing second in her November debut, she’s reeled off four wins in a row, including a Crescent City Oaks victory at Fair Grounds with Jose Ortiz in the mount. “Win” undersells it because she crushed the field by 5 ½ lengths, although she also went off as the overwhelming favorite. She’ll be tested away from Fair Grounds for the first time and will be stretching out in both distance and competition.
6. Haute Diva (15-1; Asmussen/Biancone): The best name goes to Haute Diva, who doesn’t look like a strong factor here on paper. She has at least run against class, which is more than we can say for the rest of the field, as she ran sixth in the Darley Alcibiades last season, a Grade 1 race at Keeneland, and then ran fifth and seventh, respectively, in her last two starts, the Davona Dale and the Gulfstream Park Oaks. She’s only run outside of Gulfstream once and it was the Alcibiades, where she was sixth out of six horses. Luis Saez really scaled her back amidst a bad trip. We’ll see if Keith Asmussen has any more luck.
7. Jumping the Gun (3-1; Saez/Simoff): Speaking of Saez, he’s aboard the morning line favorite, Jumping the Gun. This is, as you might have guessed, a Gun Runner offspring with Breaking Bread, whose father was Quality Road. The bloodline definitely stands out in this field and so does Saez in the mount for Andrew Simoff, who has been a trainer since 1987 and hasn’t won a graded stakes race yet. Jumping the Gun came close, as she was second in the Demoiselle and then took the winter off before hitting the starting gate for the Weber City Miss Stakes last month. She ran third while shaking off some rust, but she’s not in that spot here.
8. Majestic Lucia (12-1; Alvarado/Barboza): Victor Barboza Jr. has to be happy with the progress of Florida-bred Majestic Lucia by way of McKinzie and Starship Leia. This is a horse that did not run as a 2-year-old, but she’s won both races as a 3-year-old, including her Tampa Bay Downs debut last time out on Apr. 4 with Cipriano Gil in the irons. She went off the favorite in that race after winning at seven furlongs for Junior Alvarado in her maiden at Gulfstream. The distance is a question here, but dad did have one huge win at 1 ⅛ miles in the 2019 Whitney Stakes.
9. A. P.’s Girl (5-1; I. Ortiz/Eurton): The late, great Brian Blessing used to always tell me to pay attention to horses that matured and found their stride as 3-year-olds. In the case of A. P.’s Girl, she hadn’t finished better than fourth until the calendar turned to 2026 and now she’s got two wins and a second. This field is a lot stronger than what she’s previously faced and it would have been nice to see the upward trend continue in the Weber City Miss Stakes, as her speed figures were underwhelming. She did beat out Jumping the Gun for second, but came up a half-length short to 26.7-to-1 shot Ivy Girl. No offense to James Graham, who had the ride in that one, but we can all agree Irad Ortiz Jr. is an upgrade in the mount.
10. My Miss Mo (7/2; Gaffalione/Joseph): The daughter of Uncle Mo and In A Dream is looking for her first win of the season and just the second of her career. She’s finished first once and second three times out of five starts, with two strong efforts this year in the Davona Dale and Gulfstream Park Oaks. Unlike A. P.’s Girl, whose speed numbers went down in her last race, My Miss Mo had the best performance of her career coming up short to Prom Queen. She finished nearly three lengths behind, but did outrun favorite She Be Smooth and did so with Tyler Gaffalione in the mount. One area of concern is that she broke fast, but couldn’t find the stamina late over 1 1/16. Now she’ll be asked to go 1 ⅛.
Black-Eyed Susan Stakes Predictions
Every horse in this field has questions, from past performances to a lack of being tested at this distance and this level, and everything in between. My preferred horses in this race are Holly’s Holiday and Majestic Lucia, as both seem to be trending upwards, while others seem to be a little more static. Also, the prices are nicer on her than what we have on My Miss Mo, my favorite of the shorter prices. I could also see Ivy Girl having another good run.
3 Holly’s Holiday
8 Majestic Lucia
10 My Miss Mo
2 Ivy Girl
For more coverage, check out our horse racing page.
