Black-Eyed Susan Stakes 2020: Post Positions, Field and Race Preview

The Black-Eyed Susan Stakes is traditional fare for Preakness weekend, and this year's edition brings a talented field, a $250,000 purse and a non-traditional date.

The race is usually run on the Friday before the Triple Crown race, but this year the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes' 11-horse field is set to compete from 4:41 p.m. ET on Saturday. The 1 ⅛-mile dirt track race is for three-year-old fillies and has attracted a good stable of contenders.

Four graded stakes winners are set to enter the notable undercard race. While Swiss Skydiver is the only filly in the Preakness, some of the best in the category will be battling it out at Pimlico earlier in the day, including Project Whiskey, Bonny South, Hopeful Growth and Perfect Alibi.

Black-Eyed Susan Stakes 2020 Post Positions, Odds

1. Project Whiskey: 25-1

2. Truth Hurts: 16-1

3. So Darn Hot: 9-1

4. Dream Marie: 20-1

5. Bonny South: 7-4

6. Sharp Starr: 33-1

7. Mizzen Beau: 11-1

8. Hopeful Growth: 5-1

9. Miss Melissa: 9-1

10. Landing Zone: 8-1

11. Perfect Alibi: 7-1

Odds via Oddschecker.

Race Preview

Bonny South leads the pack as the favorite on the back of her win in the Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks and her second-placed finish just behind Swiss Skydiver in August's Alabama Stakes. With Swiss Skydiver competing in the main event and Kentucky Oaks winner Shedaresthedevil absent from the field, the Juddmonte Farms horse is the most talented in the field on paper.

Trainer Brad H. Cox believes the best might be yet to come for his filly.

"Since the Alabama, she's done really, really well," said Cox, per BloodHorse. "She's maturing. She's still somewhat lightly raced, only run six times in her life. Hopefully, she'll take a step forward."

Cox is also the trainer of the aforementioned Shedaresthedevil, so he's had good success with his fillies in 2020.

The oddsmakers expect Bonny South's biggest challenge to come from Hopeful Growth, whose best performance of the year came in a win at the Monmouth Oaks on Aug. 1. However, her most recent start was a sixth-placed finish at the Kentucky Oaks, where she faded down the stretch.

If there's a long shot worth buying into it might be Project Whiskey. The filly is one of the four horses in the field to win a graded stakes this year—she won the Delaware Oaks and followed it up by finishing just behind Hopeful Growth at the Monmouth Oaks.

The long odds can probably be explained by breaking from the No. 1 post and a disappointing ninth-placed finish at the Weber City Miss Stakes in September. But it's worth noting that the 2019 winner of this race—Point of Honor—won after she followed up back-to-back wins with a disappointing performance.

Moving all the way out to the 11th post, Perfect Alibi figures to be a wild card in this lineup. The Kentucky-bred contender showed a lot of promise as a two-year-old, winning Grade 1 and Grade 2 races, but has only made three starts in her three-year-old campaign and has only hit the board in one of them.

Landing Zone could be the sneaky pick in this spot. The BB Horses filly has won back-to-back allowance races but hasn't come up against the kind of field she will see at Pimlico. Still, trainer Claudio A. Gonzalez has a track record of success in Maryland and could have her ready for a breakthrough performance.

This should be a competitive race and serve as a nice appetizer for those looking forward to a fun Preakness Stakes on Saturday.