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 14, 2021

Heading into the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes, Notorious Return looked like one of the better horses in the field, but could a horse with just one win in nine starts be trusted to come through here? On Friday, she would finally pick up that long awaited second win of her career, and now TwinTowersRacing will be hoping they come more regularly. She would start well, and stay near the front throughout before taking over late, getting the first win in the stake for both trainer TwinTowersRacing and jockey Ru Fuentes. Congratulations to them! The race was run in a time of 1:48.48, the quickest since 2017. Let’s take a look!

(½ Mile- :47.64)- Break From Holly jumps out to the early lead for trainer Nakamura Stables, and has plenty of room to move to the rail within the first turn. Despite that, jockey V R Carrasco decides to keep her in the fourth lane for the duration of the turn and into the backstretch, anyway. Our eventual winner, Notorious Return, out of TwinTowersRacing goes back and forth with Arindel’s Secret Eyes for the second position as the two of them are about a length and a half back. It’s another length to Anivia, who is between the two of them for BomBay Stables. One more length to Fleeting, who is on the rail for D J C Racing Stables, and Big Challenge, from Waldo, who is in the third lane. Further back, it’s Last Lady (Lindeman Prairie) and Tokyo (Patterson Stable).

(¾ Mile- 1:11.42)- Break From Holly stays in the fourth lane for the backstretch, and by the time they reach the turn, the clear amount of room that she would have had to move over is gone. Notorious Return was pleased that the rail remained open, so it was pretty easy for her to advance her position at the top of the turn. Secret Eyes did as well, and the two of them were a half length away from taking the top spot. Anivia had also closed the gap here. It was about two lengths to Big Challenge, who was leading the next group. Last Lady made up a little ground here.

(Top of Stretch, 1.8F To Go)- Exiting the turn, the great rail trip that Notorious Return had would see her take the lead by about half a length entering the stretch. Anivia moved into the second position, pulling ahead of Secret Eyes by a head, and looking like the biggest challenger to Notorious Return, but Secret Eyes was going to battle it out, too. Break From Holly was still on the outside of them but would need a second wind to get the win at this point. Big Challenge and Last Lady are even for fifth, about two lengths off the lead. Fleeting has lost some ground on the rail, and Tokyo is about to pass her by.

(Finish- 1:48.48)- Notorious Return looks good at the top of the stretch, but with a furlong to go, the trainer might have been thinking, “here we go again” as Anivia had reeled her in and seemed poised to complete the pass for the win. But in the dying moments, Notorious Return would be stronger, holding off her closest challenger to get the big victory in the Black-Eyed Susan! Anivia gets second, with Secret Eyes falling out of contention by a length, though still finishing third. Tokyo slipped by a few late to be fourth, topping Last Lady and Break From Holly who technically dead heat for fifth. Big Challenge and Fleeting round it out.

About The Winner- Notorious Return, trained by TwinTowersRacing and ridden to victory by Ru Fuentes, is a three year old filly by Notorious One, and is out of Golden Return. She was bred as a second quarter two year old by TwinTowersRacing in California, and they have been together throughout. The win is her second in ten starts, and her first stake win. Her career earnings are now $260.520.

Track: Fast
Time: :47³  1:11²  1:35⁴  1:48²

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 1 – 4 Paid 106.10
$1 Trifecta: 1 – 4 – 6 Paid 1,405.00

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES