The Vicki Oliver-trained Core Values, fresh off beating boys in Ellis Park's prep for the Dueling Grounds Derby, goes back in against fillies while putting her three-race win streak on the line in the co-featured $500,000 Exacta Systems Dueling Grounds Oaks. Both stakes are 1 5/16 miles, one lap around Kentucky Downs' undulating, kidney-shaped course.

A total of 145 horses are on the program for Sunday's 11-race card, with an extra race added because of the strong demand. There are 124 horses in the body of the races, with another 21 needing defections in order to run. Seven races attracted at least 12 entries. The Dueling Grounds Oaks' field of nine is the smallest field, with an 11-horse field and a pair of 10-horse fields rounding out the card.

Du Jour most recently was third in Saratoga's $1 million, Grade 1 Saratoga Derby Invitational after finishing fourth in the $1 million, Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational in his first two races for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. The colt previously was trained by California-based Bob Baffert, whose wife, Jill, is Du Jour's co-owner. Du Jour's American Turf was part of a huge day at Churchill Downs for Baffert, who finished first with Medina Spirit for what seemed to be his record-breaking seventh Kentucky Derby victory. That victory is in doubt, however, with Medina Spirit facing potential disqualification after subsequently testing positive for a therapeutic medication at more than the permitted level on race day.

Reigning Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox has a strong tandem in the 3-year-old stakes with Royal Prince in the Dueling Grounds Derby and Adventuring in the Dueling Grounds Oaks.

Royal Prince lost Ellis Park's Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Dueling Grounds Derby by a nose to Core Values after garnering a second and third in a pair of $75,000 stakes at the Fair Grounds and Sam Houston earlier in the year. Royal Prince has the distinction of finishing first in his debut at Kentucky Downs a year ago, only to have the race declared a no-contest because of a gate malfunction.

Modern Science gets another crack at Royal Prince after leading all the way in the Ellis Park prep only to get passed late to finish third by a total of a neck.

Among other Dueling Grounds Derby contenders: Kelly Breen ships Delaware's Grade 3 Kent Stakes victor Yes This Time in from Saratoga where the colt's five-race win streak ended with an eighth place in the Saratoga Derby after being pinched off at the start.

The Rusty Arnold-trained Cellist was sixth in the Saratoga Derby and third in the Belmont Derby after defeating Dueling Grounds Derby entrant Palazzi and Royal Prince in Churchill Downs' Audubon Stakes. Arnold also has Grey Streak in the Dueling Grounds Derby, with both colts owned by Calumet Farm.

Adventuring was third, by a total of a half-length, as the favorite in Ellis Park's Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Dueling Grounds Oaks, won by Core Value's stablemate Flippant in a stakes sweep for Oliver. The winner of Turfway Park's Bourbonette, Adventuring worked a half-mile in a sparkling 47 2/5 seconds on Monday – the fastest of the morning — in company with Royal Prince.

Also back from Ellis Park's Preview Dueling Grounds Oaks is fourth-place finisher Oliviaofthedesert. Trainer Kenny McPeek has enjoyed a lot of success in the Dueling Grounds Oaks, winning in 2019 with Princesa Carolina and in 2017 with Daddys Lil Darlin and coming in second in 2018 with Princess Warrior.

Mark Casse, voted into racing's Hall of Fame last year and formally inducted this year after a COVID delay, sends out the entry of Woodbine allowance winner Inthewinnerscircle and Earth Strike in the Dueling Grounds Oaks among his seven horses in on Sunday.

Joel Rosario comes in from Saratoga to ride the opening card and has been named on 10 horses, including Du Jour and Adventuring. Also leaving Saratoga early is defending meet champion Tyler Gaffalione, who likewise is in every race but one.

Mike Maker, Kentucky Downs' all-time win leader who captured his fifth training crown last year, has a relatively calm opening day by the frenetic standards he's set at the entry box for the track. Maker has six horses in the entries, two of which are on the also-eligible list and will need defections to run. Among those assured of being in the race is Hilliard, a $40,000 claim at Saratoga in his last start. Maker will try to make the gelding his latest stakes winner by running him longer distances on turf.

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That extends to the RUNHAPPY Meet at Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky., where Cox has won a meet-leading 11 of 27 starts, with five seconds and three thirds. His haul can get even better as the stable figures to be in at least half of the eight stakes on tap next weekend for Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Weekend.

Entries were taken Sunday for Saturday's stakes quintet, with Royal Prince running in the $100,000 Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Dueling Grounds Derby at 1 1/8 miles on turf and Adventuring and Caldee in the $100,000 Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Dueling Grounds Oaks at 1 1/16 miles on grass. The Preview stakes are designed as stepping stones to Kentucky Downs' all-grass meet Sept. 5-13, with the Ellis Park winners getting a fees-paid berth in the corresponding stakes. While it's not part of the Preview series, Cox also has 2020 Indiana Derby winner Shared Sense in Saturday's Tri-State Overnight Stakes for older horses at a mile on dirt.

Cox also has Hieronymus for next Sunday's $100,000 Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Mint Million at a mile on turf. With entries for Sunday not taken until Thursday, it's possible the barn could have others running.

“Brad is the best, and he has very good stock everywhere, to be honest,” said Jorge Abrego, Cox's assistant overseeing the Ellis Park division.

So far this season Cox earned his first Triple Crown victory with 2-year-old champion Essential Quality winning the Belmont Stakes, then tacking on Saturday's Grade 2 Jim Dandy at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Mandaloun — who a week earlier captured Monmouth Park's Grade 1 Haskell upon a disqualification — would give Cox his first Kentucky Derby if the Bob Baffert-trained Medina Spirit is ultimately DQed because of a medication infraction.

Cox is No. 2 in North American purse earnings, his $16.79 million trailing only Steve Asmussen's $17.5 million (a margin that would be wiped out if Mandaloun becomes the Derby victor). Cox's 228 victories out of 522 starters heading into Sunday's racing reflect a 28-percent win rate. He's also averaging a whopping $29,879 every time he runs a horse. Both figures are second only to Baffert's 30 percent and $43,548 per-starter average among the top 40 trainers based on earnings.

While Shared Sense has been at Indiana Grand with Cox assistant Rick Giannini and Caldee has been at Keeneland, Abrego oversaw the final works Sunday morning for Royal Prince, Adventuring, and Hieronymus.

Royal Prince and Adventuring worked together and were officially clocked cruising a half-mile in :50.60 right after the track opened about 5:25 a.m.

“All week the horses galloped very well. We tried to make a good match-up today,” said Abrego, whose own timing of the works was a fifth-second faster. “They went the first three-eighths in :38, :49 4/5, (five-eighths in) 1:01 4/5 – very good for these two. I think both horses are ready for next week.”

A half-hour later, Hieronymus worked :49 flat in company.

Owner-breeder Godolphin and Cox had been wanting to get the regally bred Adventuring on the turf, but her first three career starts in New Orleans were in races rained off the grass. She won the third by 6 1/2 lengths and followed that with victory in Turfway Park's Bourbonette Oaks over a synthetic surface. Back on the dirt, Pimlico's Black-Eyed Susan proved a debacle for Adventuring. Finally getting on turf, she was a close fifth in Churchill Downs' Tepin Stakes.

“I kind of think the filly likes the turf, but maybe wants it faster,” Abrego said. “We're trying to give her another shot here. I think firmer is better for her.”

Royal Prince already is a two-time stakes-winner on turf, down at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans, La., and Sam Houston in Houston, Texas. In his last two starts, he was second in Churchill Downs' War Chant and third in the Audubon. The son of Cairo Prince has experience at Ellis Park, having finished second at the track in his debut last summer.

“Royal Prince, the horse is very nice,” Abrego said. “I think he'll show up next week. I like the way the horses are doing.”

Hieronymus, whose first career victory came at Ellis Park, won Canterbury Park's Mystic Lake in his last start.

“He's a very honest horse, tries hard every time he runs,” the assistant trainer said. “Last week, he breezed in :51 (for a half-mile). He breezed good, but with company this week, he went in :48-and-3, a minute and 3. I'm very happy with his breeze. I think this horse will be tough next Sunday.”

Shared Sense made his first start as a 4-year-old in Indiana Grand's Michael Schaefer Memorial, tiring to fifth as the heavy favorite. The son of 2007 Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense finished fifth in last year's Ellis Park Derby.

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The Black-Eyed Susan, highlight of a 14-race card that kicked off Preakness weekend, was renamed to honor the legacy of George E. Mitchell, a community organizer in the Park Heights neighborhood surrounding Pimlico. Mitchell, who died in July 2020, was instrumental in efforts to keep the Preakness at the Baltimore, Md., track.

Ridden by Joel Rosario, Army Wife finished 2 3/4 lengths ahead of Willful Woman, with Lady Traveler another 1 1/4 lengths back in third. It was 10 lengths back to the fourth-place finisher, Forever Boss, who was followed across the line by Miss Leslie, The Grass Is Blue, 2-1 favorite Beautiful Gift, 3-1 second choice Adventuring, Iced Latte and Spritz.

Army Wife paid $11 and earned $150,000 from the winner's share of the $250,000 purse. She covered 1 1/8 miles on a fast track in 1:49.63.

Breaking from the inside post position, Rosario kept Army Wife close to the rail in sixth position early as Lady Traveler raced off to the lead while being pursued by the two horses with the outside post positions in the field of 10 3-year-old fillies, Adventuring and Beautiful Gift. Fractions were :23.71 for the opening quarter mile and :46.71 for the half.

Approaching the far turn, with the first six furlongs clocked in 1:10.92, Rosario asked Army Wife to close the gap on the leader, but then had to take ahold of the filly while lacking room around the turn.

Adventuring and Beautiful Gift gave up the chase at the top of the stretch, and Rosario swung Army Wife off the rail, drawing alongside Lady Traveler. After a mile split of 1:36.79, Army Wife drew off to win going away.

The victory was the first in a stakes for Army Wife, a $190,000 purchase at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Co.'s spring sale of 2-year-olds in training in 2020. Bred in Kentucky by J.D. Stuart and AR Enterprises, Inc., the filly out of  the Arch mare, Tread, races for the Three Diamonds Farm of Kirk and Debra Wycoff.

Army Wife needed four starts to break her maiden, winning for the first time at Churchill Downs last Oct. 25 in a seven-furlong maiden race. After a second-place finish versus allowance company at Churchill the following month, Army Wife was given a break, returning three and a half months later to win a one-turn mile allowance contest at Gulfsteam Park on March 13. She finished third behind Search Results in her stakes debut in the Grade 3 Gazelle at Aqueduct on April 3 in her most recent start.

“She's been a hard-luck horse her whole career,” Maker said. “She's been a filly I've been excited about since she was 2.”

The victory improved Army Wife's record to three wins, one second and two thirds from eight starts.

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“Obviously, she's very well bred,” said trainer Brad Cox. “We're hopeful that she'll be able to handle the  mile and an eighth. She certainly appears that she can.

“She broke her maiden in an off-the-turf race on the dirt and performed extremely well. She was able to get the job done on the synthetic and she works well enough on the dirt to give us the confidence to try a graded stake on the dirt. We're looking forward getting her up there.”

Explaining the decision to bypass the Apr. 30 GI Kentucky Oaks, Cox added, “She had enough points to go in the Kentucky Oaks, but we thought the Black-Eyed Susan made more sense. Plus, she wasn't nominated to we'd have had an extra large fee to run.”

“I really like her…She's already a stakes winner, but we need to, hopefully, get some graded wins.”

Boama Corporation's Beautiful Gift (Medaglia d'Oro) broke her maiden second out stretching to a mile at Santa Anita last October. In a pair of starts facing short fields at that venue this term, the half to GSW and GISP Chitu (Henny Hughes) posted a head victory in the GIII Santa Ysabel S. Mar. 7 before succumbing by a half-length to Soothsay (Distorted Humor) in the GII Santa Anita Oaks Apr. 3. Both races were contested at 1 1/16 miles.

Hall of Famer John Velazquez will re-join the 9-5 program favorite who breaks from the 10 hole.

“She's run well,” trainer Bob Baffert said. “I was going to run her in the Kentucky Oaks, but it came up way too tough. That's one of the toughest Kentucky Oaks I've seen. I didn't want to put her through that. I said, 'We'll wait for the Black-Eyed Susan. You try to spot your horses, give them a chance where they have a chance to win.”

Three Diamonds Farm's Army Wife (Declaration of War) went winless in her first three starts last year–all on turf–before graduating in her first try on dirt at Churchill in October. Runner up going a mile in a Churchill optional claimer Nov. 28, she was a nose winner in a Gulfstream optional claimer Mar. 13 before running third behind winner Search Results (Flatter)–who subsequently finished a close-up second in the Kentucky Oaks–in a nine-furlong GIII Gazelle S. at Aqueduct Apr. 3.

“She's a filly we've always been high on. She makes a fabulous impression,” said trainer Mike Maker. “She had a couple of months off and got a little behind, but she's doing well and we're looking forward to it.”

Joel Rosario gets the call on Army Wife, who breaks from Post 1.

Alex and JoAnn Leiblong's Willful Woman (Nyquist) come into this off an optional claiming victory in the slop at Oaklawn Apr. 9. Prior to that, she finished seventh in the Mar. 6 GIII Honeybee S.

“She lost it at the break,” Alex Lieblong said of the Honeybee. “She was looking at something in the infield when they popped the gate and then got flustered when she missed it. It was just one of those deals where we were like, 'Ok. Let's start over.' That's what we did with the allowance. I hated that we missed the series there, but it might wind up being one of those deals where it worked out for the best, if you just give them time.”

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The 97th running of the 1 1/8-mile Black-Eyed Susan for 3-year-old fillies highlights a spectacular 14-race program that includes six stakes, four graded, worth $1 million in purses. It returns to its traditional spot on the eve of the Preakness Stakes (G1) after sharing the program with the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown when the races were delayed from mid-May to early October amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Other graded stakes on the program are the historic $250,000 Pimlico Special for 3-year-olds and up at the Preakness distance of 1 3/16 miles, $150,000 Miss Preakness (G3) for 3-year-old fillies sprinting six furlongs, and $150,000 Allaire du Pont (G3) for fillies and mares 3 and up going 1 1/8 miles.

Rounding out the stakes action are a pair of turf events, the $100,000 Hilltop for 3-year-old fillies at one mile, and $100,000 The Very One, a five-furlong dash for females 3 and older. First-race post time Friday is 11:30 a.m. Post time for the Black-Eyed Susan, carded as Race 13, is scheduled for 5:44 p.m.

Adventuring, second choice on the morning line at 4-1, enters the Black-Eyed Susan off back-to-back wins, graduating by 6 ½ lengths in a one-mile, 70-yard maiden special weight rained off the Fair Grounds turf Feb. 16. Most recently, she was a popular two-length winner of the one-mile Bourbonette Oaks on the all-weather surface at Turfway Park.

“Obviously, she's very well bred … and we're hopeful that she'll be able to handle the mile and an eighth. She certainly appears that she can,” Cox said. “She broke her maiden in an off the turf race on the dirt and performed extremely well. She was able to get the job done on the synthetic and she works well enough on the dirt to give us the confidence to try a graded stake on the dirt. We're looking forward getting her up there.”

By Pioneerof the Nile out of the Hard Spun mare Questing, all Grade 1 winners, Adventuring – like Beautiful Gift – will be stretching out to her longest race yet. She was second in a 1 1/16-mile maiden special weight Dec. 20 at Fair Grounds to Will's Secret, who went on to be third by two necks in the Kentucky Oaks.

“She had enough points to go in the Kentucky Oaks, but we thought the Black-Eyed Susan made more sense. Plus, she wasn't nominated to we'd have had an extra large fee to run,” Cox said. “I really like her … She's already a stakes winner, but we need to hopefully get some graded wins.”

Florent Geroux, up in the Bourbonette Oaks, gets the return call from Post 9 in a field of 10. All fillies will carry 120 pounds.

Miss Leslie earned an automatic berth in the Black-Eyed Susan by virtue of her 1 ½-length triumph in the 1 1/16-mile Weber City Miss April 24 at Pimlico. Listed at 15-1 in the program, she is aiming to become the first Weber City Miss winner to parlay that victory into a repeat in the Black-Eyed Susan.

Also facing her longest race to date, Miss Leslie is unbeaten around two turns having also won the 1 1/16-mile Anne Arundel County Dec. 26 at Laurel Park in her 2-year-old finale. She owns four wins, two seconds and a third in eight career starts, three of those wins – and both stakes – coming since being claimed for $25,000 last November by Maryland's four-time defending leading trainer, Claudio Gonzalez.

“When she ran the first time long, she proved right away that she loved the distance. And, she did it again the last time, too. She loves it,” Gonzalez said. “It's going to be tough. It's going to be different fillies coming from outside, not only local fillies. They are coming from everywhere. It's a big race. I believe she has to show how she can handle the tough fillies.”

J.D. Acosta rode in the Weber City and will again have the assignment from Post 7.

Boama Corporation's Beautiful Gift won one of two starts at 2, a one-mile maiden special weight last October at Santa Anita. Both her races this year have come there, as well – a gutsy head victory over Moraz in the Santa Ysabel (G3) and half-length loss to Soothsay while second in the Santa Anita Oaks (G2) April 3. Both races were contested at 1 1/16 miles.

Rather than send Beautiful Gift to the Kentucky Oaks (G1) April 30, the connections opted to wait for the Black-Eyed Susan. Hall of Famer John Velazquez will be aboard for the third straight race, breaking from outside Post 10, and are the 9-5 program favorite.

“She's run well,” Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert said. “I was going to run her in the Kentucky Oaks, but it came up way too tough. That's one of the toughest Kentucky Oaks I've seen. I didn't want to put her through that. I said, 'We'll wait for the Black-Eyed Susan. You try to spot your horses, give them a chance where they have a chance to win.”

Recently elected to the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame, trainer Todd Pletcher is a four-time winner of the Black-Eyed Susan with Spun Sugar (2005), Panty Raid (2007), In Lingerie (2012) and Stopchargingmaria (2014). He will be represented this year by Repole Stable's Iced Latte, making her stakes debut.

Iced Latte, another Pioneerof the Nile filly, won impressively at second asking in a one-mile maiden special weight March 14 at Gulfstream Park. She stretched out to 1 1/16 miles in an optional claimer April 25 at Belmont Park, leading all the way until caught late by Midnight Obsession and running second by a length in the slop.

“It seemed like she handled it OK,” Pletcher said. “I don't think it is indicative of her quality. We were impressed by her maiden win. She's always trained very forward and I liked the way she breezed [the other] morning.”

Luis Saez is named on Iced Latte, 8-1 on the morning line, from Post 6.

Army Wife and Lady Traveler, both Grade 3 placed, look to break through with their first graded triumphs. Three Diamonds Farm's Army Wife went winless in her first three starts last year, all on turf, before graduating in her first try on dirt. She hasn't been worse than third since, winning an optional claimer March 13 at Gulfstream and running third behind Search Results and Maracuja, respectively second and seventh in the Kentucky Oaks, in a 1 1/8-mile Gazelle (G3) April 3 at Aqueduct.

“She's a filly we've always been high on. She makes a fabulous impression,” trainer Mike Maker said. “She had a couple of months off and got a little behind, but she's doing well and we're looking forward to it.”

Joel Rosario rides Army Wife (8-1) from Post 1.

West Point Thoroughbreds, John Ballantyne, William Freeman and Michael Valdes' Lady Traveler is well-tested against graded company, having run second in the Jan. 30 Forward Gal (G3) at Gulfstream and fourth last out in the April 2 Beaumont (G3) at Keeneland, both at seven furlongs. Her trainer, Dale Romans, won back-to-back editions of the Black-Eyed Susan with Keen Pauline in 2015 and Go Maggie Go in 2016.

“Last time, even though she didn't hit the board, she ran a nice number and really showed improvement,” West Point COO Tom Bellhouse said. “In the middle of the race she started making a big move and, unfortunately, the horse that was in front of her when she started to make the move kind of drifted out and got in her way a little and kind of broke her momentum.

Lady Traveler (15-1) is a half-sister to two-time Grade 1-winning turf multi-millionaire Heart to Heart. She will be ridden by Hall of Famer Javier Castellano from Post 5.

“She's a cool filly. She hasn't been able to put it all together yet. She shows you glimpses of greatness at different times in the race,” he added. “She runs in snippets. She's like the darling of the workout report guys. She works out great, everybody's in love with her, she looks beautiful – and she's finicky. She doesn't tell you when she's really going to run her race or not. We're due. We're ready to have some fun.”

SF Racing's Spritz, second to Adventuring in the Bourbonette Oaks, is making her return to the dirt in the Black-Eyed Susan after spending the winter at Turfway Park. She was off the board in two dirt races last fall, one each at Monmouth Park and Delaware Park, before being moved to trainer Rodolphe Brisset.

“Our filly is doing really good,” Brisset said. “We saw the filly getting better, I thought, with each race. I don't think we had the perfect trip in the Bourbonette. Maybe the five-eighths move was a little too soon after going 23 [seconds] flat the first quarter. We were second-best. Since that, the filly's been working on the dirt very good.

“She's definitely a two-turn horse and she's tactical out of the gate. She's shown us that the more we've run her, and we know that on the dirt it's a pretty good weapon,” he added. “Based on the way she's breezing on the dirt, it's time to take a shot at it and see what she wants to do.”

Flavien Prat has the call on Spritz (20-1) from Post 3.

Stephen Baker, David Bernsen and Magdalena Racing's Forever Boss (15-1) was sixth in the Bourbonette Oaks but bounced back impressively with a 4 ¼-length score in an 1 1/8-mile off-the-turf allowance April 21 at Keeneland. Her trainer, Ken McPeek, upset last year's Preakness with filly Swiss Skydiver. Jose Ortiz rides from Post 4.

Alex and JoAnn Lieblong's Willful Woman (12-1) can give Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen his first Black-Eyed Susan win. The daughter of Florida Derby (G1) and Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Nyquist is a half-sister to 2007 Fantasy (G3) winner Ever So Clever and was seventh in her only previous graded attempt in the March 6 Honeybee (G3) to Will's Secret.

A maiden winner one race prior to the Honeybee, Willful Woman rebounded to capture a 1 1/16-mile optional claiming allowance April 9 in the slop at Oaklawn Park by 1 ½ lengths under Ricardo Santana Jr., who rides back from Post 2.

“She lost it at the break,” Alex Lieblong said of the Honeybee. “She was looking at something in the infield when they popped the gate and then got flustered when she missed it. It was just one of those deals where we were like, 'Ok. Let's start over.' That's what we did with the allowance. I hated that we missed the series there but it might wind up being one of those deals where it worked out for the best, if you just give them time.”

Completing the Black-Eyed Susan field is Louis Lazzinnaro's The Grass Is Blue (6-1), who respectively ran fourth and third to her Chad Brown-trained stablemate Search Results in the Gazelle and March 6 Busher Invitational. A stakes winner in the 1 1/8-mile Busanda Jan. 24 to kick off her 3-year-old season, she was beaten two heads when third behind Miss Leslie in the Anne Arundel County. The Grass Is Blue will carry three-time Eclipse Award winner Irad Ortiz Jr. from Post 8.

First run in 1919 as the Pimlico Oaks, the Black-Eyed Susan was renamed in 1952 to honor the Preakness and Maryland's state flower. Among its winners are Nellie Morse, who later became the only filly to then win the Preakness; Hall of Famers Gallorette, Twilight Tear, Davona Dale, Real Delight, Royal Delta, Serena's Song and Silverbulletday; and divisional champions Vagrancy, But Why Not and Wistful.

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Among them are Bourbonette Oaks winner Adventuring in the $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2) for 3-year-old fillies on Preakness eve, May 14. The daughter of Pioneerof the Nile ran in three straight off-the-turf races to begin her career with a third, a second and a victory before taking the Bourbonette over Turfway's Park's all-weather surface.

“She's training really well,” Cox said at Churchill Downs Thursday morning. “She had enough points to go in the Kentucky Oaks [G1], but we thought the Black-Eyed Susan made more sense. Plus she wasn't nominated to the Kentucky Oaks, so we'd have had an extra-large fee to run. But I really like her. She's out of a mare [Questing] who was a multiple Grade 1 winner at a mile and an eighth and a mile and a quarter, so I think the distance is something she's going to handle. Huge, huge pedigree. She's already a stakes-winner, but we need to hopefully get some graded wins.”

Cox said Dreamalildreamofu, winner of Turfway's Latonia Stakes in her prior start, and Gedridofwhatailesu are both being pointed to the $150,000 Allaire du Pont (G3) for fillies and mares 3 and up going 1 1/8 miles May 14. Getridofwhatailesu won the Pippin at Oaklawn Park before taking third in the Azeri (G2) won by stablemate and 2020 Kentucky Oaks winner Shedaresthedevil, and finishing fourth in the Apple Blossom (G1) to front-running Letruska, with the Cox-trained two-time champion Monomoy Girl second.

“Dreamalildreamofu is coming off a synthetic race,” he said. “She's performed well on three different surfaces – turf, dirt, synthetic – so we have options with her. Getridofwhailesu was fourth in the Apple Blossom last time and is Grade 2-placed. She's a stakes winner and hopefully we can make her a graded-stakes winner. She's going great, and probably is going to get a little class relief. No Letruskas or Monomoy Girls in this group.”

Fair Grounds allowance winner T D Dance is being pointed for the $100,000 James W. Murphy for 3-year-olds on grass and French Empire the $100,000 Runhappy Skipat for older fillies and mares at six furlongs. Both races are part of the blockbuster Preakness undercard. A $20,000 claim last fall at Churchill Downs, French Empire has won four straight for Cox, most recently an Oaklawn allowance race.

French Empire came to Cox's stable a month ago after winning four straight races for Cipriano Contreras in the wake of being claimed for $20,000 last fall. She is entered in the Vagrancy (G3) Saturday at Belmont Park.

“She's training really well,” Cox said. “She actually is entered in the Vagrancy this weekend, but we decided to scratch and point for the Skipat. T D Dance is doing well, and I'm looking forward to giving him an opportunity in a stakes. Two races back he didn't perform quite as well as we were hoping. He was able to rebound and come back and win an allowance race.”

Cox won the top prize of $50,000 in the Maryland Jockey Club's Preakness weekend trainer bonus two years ago, when he also finished third and fourth in the Preakness Stakes with Owendale and Warrior's Charge, respectively. Cox finished in a tie with Steve Asmussen for second last year.

“I like it; it's cool,” Cox said of the program. “We won it two years ago, and it was a very nice bonus. It wasn't something we'd really pointed for. Then last year based off the morning line, I'd have said we had a big shot to win it. Last year we kind of pointed for it. This year, not as much, but it's very nice. If you run a couple and they run well, you definitely start watching the leaderboard, I can tell you that.”

West Point Thoroughbreds, John Ballantyne, William Freeman and Michael Valdes' Grade 3-placed Lady Traveler, most recently fourth in the Beaumont (G3) April 2 at Keeneland, is expected to make her next start in the $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2) for 3-year-old fillies Friday, May 14 at Pimlico Race Course.

A bay daughter of Grade 1 winner Quality Road, Lady Traveler is trained by Dale Romans who won the Black-Eyed Susan in back-to-back years with Keen Pauline (2015) and Go Maggie Go (2016) and most recently was second with Coach Rocks (2018). West Point was third with Tom Albertrani-trained Toasting in 2013.

“We're set to enter Lady Traveler in the Black-Eyed Susan,” West Point CEO Tom Bellhouse. “We've had some fun in the Black-Eyed Susan in the past. We had Toasting that hit the board and then Coach Rocks ran great a couple years ago. I know Dale likes the race.”

Lady Traveler is a half-sister to two-time Grade 1-winning turf multi-millionaire Heart to Heart, out of the Silver Deputy mare Ask the Question. She broke her maiden and was second in the Rags to Riches last fall in Kentucky, and opened 2021 rallying for second in the seven-furlong Forward Gal (G3) Jan. 30 at Gulfstream Park.

Since then she has finished off the board in a 1 1/8-mile optional claiming allowance on turf March 10 at Gulfstream and the seven-furlong Beaumont, beaten less than five lengths at odds of 17-1.

“She's a cool filly,” Bellhouse said. “She hasn't been able to put it all together yet, but she's got an amazing pedigree.”

West Point may have another Preakness weekend starter in Jaxon Traveler, a multiple stakes winner it owns with Marvin Delfiner and is trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen. Nominated to the $200,000 Chick Lang (G3) for 3-year-olds sprinting six furlongs, the Maryland-bred Jaxon Traveler broke his maiden on debut last fall at Pimlico and won the Maryland Juvenile Futurity in December at Laurel Park.

Jaxon Traveler suffered his only loss in five starts when he was beaten a head in the Gazebo March 20, a race where he needed to come from off the pace, before rebounding with a front-running triumph in the April 24 Bachelor. Both races were going six furlongs at Oaklawn Park.

“We're waiting to hear if Steve wants to come back that quick in the Chick Lang. The race is perfect for him, but he hasn't committed to us yet,” Bellhouse said. “I hope we run both of them. It would be a blast to come down next week and just have a great time.”

SF Racing's Bourbonette runner-up Spritz is scheduled to breeze this weekend over the main track at Keeneland with the $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2) in mind, trainer Rodolphe Brisset said.

“If she works OK on Sunday, Spritz will be running in the Black-Eyed Susan,” Brisset said. “She'll have her last work Sunday depending on the weather. As of now, we're looking at working her on Sunday, shipping her on Monday night and we'll be there on Tuesday morning.”

Spritz, by Awesome Again out of the Holy Bull mare Holy Blitz, spent the winter racing over Turfway Park's all-weather surface. It was where she broke her maiden going 1 1/16 miles Feb. 26 and followed up with a game effort in the one-mile Bourbonette, beaten two lengths by Adventuring, who is also being pointed to the 1 1/8-mile Black-Eyed Susan.

“She's extremely well-bred. For her to finish second in a stakes was very good for her value as a broodmare,” Brisset said. “But, obviously, if we can be stakes placed or a stakes winner on the dirt, that would be even better.”

Other horses pointing to the Black-Eyed Susan are Army Wife, Beautiful Gift, Forever Boss, Iced Latte, Lady Traveler, Miss Leslie and Willful Woman.

Entries will be taken and post positions drawn for the Black-Eyed Susan Day program Sunday, May 9.

Brisset said plans call for Team Valor International's Australian-bred Victory Kingdom to breeze Friday at Keeneland for a start in the $100,000 The Very One for fillies and mares 3 and up sprinting five furlongs on the grass Friday, May 14.

The post Cox-Trained Adventuring, Winner Of Bourbonette Oaks, Pointed To Black-Eyed Susan appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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