The Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (Grade 2)- $250.000 Purse
PIM- For Fillies Three Years Old
One Mile and One Eighth on the Dirt
May 18, 2018

As we anticipated, the going was sloppy here at PIM on the day before the PRK, and it’s not expected to get much better Saturday. Due to that, our six talented fillies going at it in the Black-Eyed Susan had an additional obstacle to overcome. Both Jinxed Queen and Blue Jeans came from off the pace to take command of the race, but in the end, they could not separate themselves from one another, and a dead heat was declared in this race. It’s the first time that the Black Eyed Susan has seen a dead heat in its now 15-year history. On the Jinxed Queen side, the winning trainer is Gdp Inc, and he was ridden by D E Centeno, each of whom are first time winners in the race. For Blue Jeans, the winning trainer is First Class Stable, and the jockey was R Bejarano. They, too, our first time winners, so congratulations to all the firsters! The time of the win in the slop was 1:54.33. Let’s take a look!

(½ Mile- :51.88)- No one is particularly hurried out of the gate as it seems to be a pretty conservative start across the board. Eventually, its Dame Magnifique taking the lead for D J C Racing Stables, with both Nice Tactical Speed (Maxmillion Farm) and Pink Cross (Fractious) running within a length of her. As they move into the opening turn, Pink Cross bows out of this pursuit, and drops back pretty quickly to be about five lengths from the lead. At the half mile, Nice Tactical Speed, who had inched closer at the top of the backstretch, makes the pass for the lead. Further back, Jinxed Queen was fourth, running five out in steady stride. Her co-winner, Blue Jeans, was at the back initially for First Class Stable, but she would complete a pass of Terrific in the backstretch. That Keikowin Racing entry was now the trailer.

(3/4 Mile- 1:16.85)- Over the course of the backstretch trip, our two pacesetters, Nice Tactical Speed and Dame Magnifique lead the field by about five lengths, with Nice Tactical Speed half a length in front of her closest rival. Moving into the turn, we see Jinxed Queen now beginning to cut into the lead. At six furlongs, she’s only gained once length, but it was pretty evident that she was going to be much closer by the top of the stretch. Further back, Blue Jeans pulled even with Pink Cross and looks poised to make a run. Terrific held the rail, and continued to trail.

(Top Of Stretch, 1.5F To Go)- In just this short period of time, Jinxed Queen has cut nearly the entire four lengths that she had to make up on the two pace setters. She is now positioning herself to the inside, with a clear lane, and only a length behind them. Also closing hard was Blue Jeans. She had three lengths to make up still, but was flying down on the outside. Nice Tactical Speed and Dame Magnifique were sitting ducks at this point to both of them. Terrific had gotten a bit closer herself, and third was clearly in sight. Pink Cross had nothing for the stretch.

(Finish- 1:54.33)- With a furlong to go, Jinxed Queen took the lead, but didn’t pass the pacesetters as easily as she may have liked. While she got caught up in that, Blue Jeans made up more and more ground, and did not have as much trouble at all. The two of them were in a strong drive to the wire, and in the end, both Jinxed Queen and Blue Jeans will have to settle for sharing the win. Terrific was pretty good in the stretch to get up for third, just ahead of Nice Tactical Speed, and then Dame Magnifique. After a cup of coffee, Pink Cross finished as well. Perhaps there were blown meters on that one, or she just really hated the slop, because she’s better then that.

About Our Winners: Jinxed Queen, trained by Gdp Inc and ridden by D E Centeno, is a three year old filly by Z Jinxed One, and out of Thequeenhasspoken. She was bred in the great breeding state of Pennsylvania by Gdp Inc as a second quarter year old, and they have been together throughout. Congratulations to the connections! The win is her fourth in a row! She’s won six of eight, and its her second graded win. Her career earnings are now $355.900.

Blue Jeans, trained by First Class Stable, and ridden by R Bejarano, is a three year old filly by Levi Strauss, and is out of Moneybackathedoor. She was bred in New York as a yearling by Night Mare Racing, and acquired by the trainer unraced in private sales in November 2016 for $20.000. Congratulations to the connections! The win is her second in ten starts, and her first graded win. Her career earnings are now $326.800.

Track: Sloppy
Time: :51⁴  1:16⁴  1:41⁴  1:54¹

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 1 – 5 Paid 1.90, 5 – 1 Paid 2.30
$1 Trifecta: 1 – 5 – 2 Paid 11.80, 5 – 1 – 2 Paid 7.70

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES