Beautiful Gift Heads Betting For Black-Eyed Susan Stakes

Bob Baffert will be in the headlines throughout the weekend's action at Pimlico, and he could have a first winner on Preakness Stakes weekend in the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes. Beautiful Gift is the clear favorite in the betting for the featured race on Friday, which is a Grade 2 affair. However, there is no shortage of fillies involved that could be well-suited to stopping the three-year-old.

Beautiful Gift is the clear market leader for the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes on Friday after impressing on all her career runs to date. She has placed on all four starts and has won on two occasions. Her first win this calendar year came in the Santa Ysabel Stakes at Santa Anita, which is a Grade 3.

That was an excellent return to the track for the three-year-old, as he kicked on from the Maiden Special Weight victory that she recorded at the same track back in October. Her last run came in the Santa Anita Oaks, as she was narrowly beaten by Soothsay. That Grade 2 performance was an excellent prep for this run, but it will be interesting to see how she fares with the different conditions at Pimlico on Friday.

Beautiful Gift will certainly have a lot of support on Friday, but our fancy for the race at Pimlico is Adventuring for trainer Brad Cox. The three-year-old will be making the step up to graded company for the first time this weekend, but she has incredibly good form behind her so far this year. After finishing third and second in Maiden Special Weights at Fair Grounds, she claimed the first win at the same track in February.

That was swiftly followed up with a second straight win in a competitive Bourbonette Oaks in March. That was a strong run in similar conditions as Pimlico. She is bred for this kind of race, and the conditions shouldn't be an issue for this talented filly. Brad Cox is yet to win this race, but Adventuring could be one of his best chances to alter that record.

There are five of the ten runners for the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes priced below 10/1, which highlights how competitive this renewal of the race is. The Grass Is Blue is around a 6/1 shot for the featured race on Friday and will be looking for a first Graded victory. Her last win came in the Busanda Stakes in January, but she has impressed in her two most recent runs, as she finished third in the Busher Invitational Stakes and fourth in her first run at Grade 3 company in the Gazelle Stakes. Army Wife finished a place ahead of The Grass Is Blue in the Gazelle and is also a decent chance.

Iced Latte for trainer Todd Pletcher is one of the most interesting runners in the race this year, as this will be her first race at Graded company. She has won once in three starts, with that victory coming in a Maiden Special Weight at Gulfstream Park in March. She finished second last time out in an Allowance Optional Claiming at Belmont and could be open to further improvement here.

Those looking for a bigger-priced selection shouldn't look past Miss Leslie, who is around a 15/1 chance. Place value could easily be made on this three-year-old for trainer Claudio Gonzalez, as she recently won the Weber City Miss Stakes. She has only finished outside of the top three places on one occasion in her career to date, and that came when she was sixth in the Wide Country Stakes. Her experience in Black Type races could be something to side with for the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes.