Undefeated through four starts this year and a winner of five consecutive stakes dating back before Christmas, Luna Belle has been in a class of her own among 3-year-old fillies in Maryland. Come May 20, the competition grows deeper.
The Maryland standout faces 12 rivals in the $250,000 George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (G2) Friday at Pimlico Race Course, many of them from out of town. Among the invaders are Adare Manor and Interstatedaydream, who both have graded stakes experience, something Luna Belle does not.
Owned by Deborah Greene and Maryland-based trainer Hamilton Smith and bred by Smith, Greene, and her late father, Fred Greene Jr., Luna Belle earned automatic entry into the Black-Eyed Susan by virtue of her 4 1/2-length win in the 1 1/16-mile Weber City Miss Stakes April 16 at Laurel Park, which was her two-turn debut.
During her streak, Luna Belle has won from six furlongs to 1 1/16 miles. The daughter of Great Notion stretches out yet another sixteenth for the 1 1/8-mile Black-Eyed Susan.
"She's done everything that we've asked of her so far. We had another stakes we could have gone in on Black-Eyed Susan Day, the sprint, but we didn't," Smith said. "We decided that she's done enough to deserve the chance at it, and we'll see how she can perform with them. We're going to give it a whirl and hope for the best.
"If she runs the same type of race that she has in the last several, where she's able to relax off the lead a little bit, she should be tough," he added. "I would have to think there will be some speed in the race, more so than what we've had before, really. It should set up pretty good in that respect."
The second choice at odds of 9-2 on the morning line, Luna Belle drew post 6 and will be ridden for the sixth straight race by Denis Araujo.
The 5-2 program favorite for the Black-Eyed Susan is Michael Lund Petersen's Adare Manor, a 13-length winner of the one-mile Las Virgenes (G3) Feb. 6 at Santa Anita Park. The Uncle Mo filly was beaten a neck when second in the Santa Anita Oaks (G2) April 9, just failing to withstand the rally of Desert Dawn, the eventual third-place finisher in the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1).
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Adare Manor, now trained by Sean McCarthy, and jockey John Velazquez drew post 10.
Flurry Racing Stables' Interstatedaydream (6-1) enters the Black-Eyed Susan having run third to Nest—subsequently second in the Kentucky Oaks—in Keeneland's 1 1/16-mile Central Bank Ashland Stakes (G1) after setting the pace. The Classic Empire filly won twice last summer before getting the rest of the year off, returning with an 8 1/4-length allowance optional claiming triumph March 13 at Oaklawn Park.
"She's doing great," trainer Brad Cox said.
Florent Geroux rides the speedy 3-year-old, one of several frontrunners in the lineup.
Also grade 1-placed is Bradley Thoroughbreds, Gary Finder, Belmar Racing and Breeding, Tim Cambron, Anna Cambron, and Team Hanley's Distinctlypossible (8-1), who won a maiden race in her only start this year. The Chad Brown trainee ran second in the Darley Alcibiades Stakes (G1) as a maiden last fall.
Pimlico Race Course, Friday, May 20, 2022, Race 13Entries: George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan S. (G2)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Divine Huntress (MD) Flavien Prat 118 H. Graham Motion 15/1 2 2Missy Greer (KY) Luis Saez 118 Danny Gargan 20/1 3 3Miss Yearwood (KY) Julien R. Leparoux 118 Ian R. Wilkes 20/1 4 4Midnight Stroll (FL) Javier Castellano 118 John P. Terranova II 15/1 5 5Beguine (KY) Jose L. Ortiz 118 Daniel C. Peitz 12/1 6 6Luna Belle (MD) Denis Araujo 120 Hamilton A. Smith 9/2 7 7Distinctlypossible (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 118 Chad C. Brown 6/1 8 8Candy Light (KY) Charlie Marquez 118 H. Graham Motion 20/1 9 9Interstatedaydream (ON) Florent Geroux 118 Brad H. Cox 6/1 10 10Adare Manor (KY) John R. Velazquez 122 Sean McCarthy 5/2 11 11Radio Days (KY) Joel Rosario 118 Claude R. McGaughey III 12/1 12 12Favor (KY) Tyler Gaffalione 118 Todd A. Pletcher 8/1 13 13Morning Matcha (PA) Frankie Pennington 118 Robert E. Reid, Jr. 20/1
