Bradley Kent and Ken Reimer’s standout Louisiana-bred filly Braken Poppa will put her four-race win streak on the line when she chases a third straight stakes win while facing open company for the first time in the $300,000 George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan (G2) Friday at Laurel Park.
The 102nd running of the 1 1/8-mile event for 3-year-old fillies headlines a spectacular 14-race program that includes six stakes, three graded, worth $1.05 million in combined purses and serves as a fitting prelude to Saturday’s 151st Preakness Stakes (G1), Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.
Other graded stakes on the Black-Eyed Susan program are the historic $250,000 Pimlico Special (G3) for 3-year-olds and up at the Preakness distance of 1 3/16 miles and $150,000 Miss Preakness (G3) for 3-year-old fillies sprinting six furlongs.
Rounding out the stakes action are the listed $125,000 Allaire du Pont Distaff for fillies and mares 3 and up going 1 1/8 miles and a pair of listed events scheduled for the turf – the $125,000 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. (ET). Post time for the Black-Eyed Susan, carded as Race 13, is scheduled for 6:14 p.m.
Braken Poppa is a daughter of Aurelius Maximus that fetched $80,000 at the Texas Thoroughbred Association’s 2024 yearling sale and found her way to trainer Steve Asmussen, who also campaigned the sire.
The Black-Eyed Susan will be the first time racing anywhere other than Fair Grounds, where she ran second as the favorite in her debut last November sprinting six furlongs. She hasn’t lost since, stringing together four wins by 19¾ combined lengths – all over state-breds – at distances from one mile to a mile and 70 yards.
“She’s a beauty. You hope they’re all going to be that good,” Reimer said. “She likes to go to the lead, and she runs fast. She’s a handful, though. She’s an absolute handful. She always gets a little fractious and all the morning riders say she’s tough to ride, but she likes to go and she’s got a lot of heart. I love that horse.”
Braken Poppa graduated in her sophomore season opener Jan. 4 and followed up 26 days later with a 1¾-length optional allowance claiming victory that earned her a shot against stakes competition. She romped by 9 ½ lengths in the Feb. 28 Charged Cotton and went gate to wire to win by 5½ in the March 21 Crescent City Oaks, her most recent start.
“She’s earned her way there,” Reimer said. “After she won the allowance race we were like, ‘OK, this is something.’ Then she wins two back-to-back stakes races and it’s like, ‘OK, that’s awesome.’ The target was the Black-Eyed Susan, so here we are.”
Her most recent win was also Bracken Poppa’s first attempt around two turns, which she’ll try to successfully navigate again in the Black-Eyed Susan, a race Asmussen – racing’s all-time leader with more than 11,000 career victories – has never won.
“I’ll tell you what, after the mile and 70 yards she was still going so I’m not worried about that. That little bit of extra distance is not going to hurt her at all. She’s coming in very fresh,” Reimer said. “We’re very, very optimistic about her.”
In all but her most recent effort, Braken Poppa has come from just off the pace in each of her wins. Jose Ortiz is named to ride from Post 5 in a field of 10.
“She’s shown a little versatility in her races,” Reimer said. “She likes to be near the front, though. I’m excited. I’m excited about this race.”
4G Racing, Gregg Day and Steven Crain’s Holly’s Holiday exits two straight wins for trainer Kenny McPeek, also seeking his first Black-Eyed Susan victory. By Maxfield, she graduated in her third career start and first of 2026 going 1 1/16-miles March 26 at Oaklawn Park, where she returned with a 1¾-length triumph April 18 in the one-mile Valley of the Vapors as the longest shot on the board at 21-1.
“She had been training really well. She had always trained really good as an early 2-year-old, but she came up with a little bone bruising, and we stopped on her. She was just a bit uncomfortable. We didn’t think it was a problem, but after her second race it was more dramatic, and we had to regroup with her and gave her plenty of time. Since then, she has been stellar. She came back as a filly we thought she could be,” McPeek said. “I think this is a good next spot for her.”
Flavien Prat gets the riding assignment from Post 3.
Averill Racing, Mathis Stable and Tristan De Meric’s My Miss Mo, second in successive graded attempts at her home track of Gulfstream Park, looks to break through in the Black-Eyed Susan. A 12-length maiden winner against Florida-breds sprinting seven furlongs in early November, she was fourth in the six-furlong Sandpiper at Tampa Bay Downs in her juvenile finale.
This year she was beaten six lengths at odds of 26-1 as runner-up to She Be Smooth in the one-mile Davona Dale (G2) Feb. 28 and 2 ¾ lengths by Prom Queen when stretched out around two turns in the 1 1/16-mile Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) March 28. Prom Queen came back to be a troubled fifth in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) May 1.
“The last race was pretty solid and I feel like the horse that beat her at Gulfstream had a troubled trip in the Oaks so her form seems like it should stack up well. I would think she would stack pretty decent going into this race,” trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said. “The was productive from the last race. I think she should have a pretty decent chance.”
Tyler Gaffalione will ride My Miss Mo from outermost Post 10.
Trott Racing Stable, Five Sisters Farm and John Polizos’ Miss Fulton Gal is quite familiar with Laurel Park, having made each of her last six starts over the main track since mid-November with two wins and two seconds. Her victories came in back-to-back fashion, a 1 1/16-mile optional claiming allowance Feb. 14 and a head decision in the one-mile Beyond the Wire March 21.
In her last start, Miss Fulton Gal raced wide and finished fourth in the 1 1/16-mile Weber City Miss April 18.
“She didn’t have the best trip,” trainer Mike Gorham said. “She kind of got caught back and then she had to swing wide. She finished but the first two were well in front and she couldn’t really gain any ground on them. She did finish good and she showed some heart down the stretch so that’s why I’m optimistic.”
Miss Fulton Gal has trained and raced all winter at Laurel, and will have the services of John Velazquez from Post 1.
“Being stabled here is probably a big edge. She’s trained good and run good over the track,” Gorham said. “She’s run some big races. I’ve always thought that the further she goes the better she’ll be. That’s what I’m hoping for, as she gets older. With her running style, she’s a closer and she never really seems to get tired so I think the Black-Eyed Susan would fit her.”
Lucky Hat Racing’s Ivy Girl earned an automatic berth to the Black-Eyed Susan in the Weber City Miss, her second straight victory following a rallying head triumph in the March 3 Main Line at Parx, also contested around two turns at 1 1/16 miles. The Amelia Greene trainee has had one other start at Laurel, finishing second to Miss Fulton Gal on Valentine’s Day.
Also entered are CRK Stable’s A. P.’s Girl, who had a two-race win streak broken when second to Ivy Girl in the Weber City Miss; Imaginary Stables’ 2024 Demoiselle (G2) runner-up Jumping the Gun, most recently third in the Weber City Miss; JSM Equine’s Haute Diva, winner of the one-mile Cash Run Jan. 1 at Gulfstream that ran off the board in the Davona Dale and Gulfstream Park Oaks; Elena Racing Stable and Carga, Inc.’s Majestic Lucia, a winner of two straight in Florida for trainer Victor Barboza Jr.; and Trin-Brook Stables Inc.’s Savor It, owned and trained by Uriah St. Lewis, exiting a 4¾-length optional claiming allowance win going one mile April 13 at Parx.
Making its debut in 1919 as the Pimlico Oaks, the Black-Eyed Susan was not run from 1932-1936 and again in 1950, and was renamed upon its 1951 return to honor the Preakness and Maryland’s state flower. Nine of its winners have gone on to be named champion 3-year-old filly, including Hall of Famers Davona Dale, Real Delight, Royal Delta, Serena’s Song, Silverbulletday, and Twilight Tear.
Among other prominent Black-Eyed Susan winners are Hall of Famer Gallorette; Nellie Morse, the only filly to also win the Preakness, in 1924; But Why Not, Caesar’s Wish, High Voltage, Vagrancy, Wide Country, and Wistful.
This story was originally published by Paulick Report on May 10, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Paulick Report as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
