Royal Delta takes Black-Eyed Susan

PIMLICO - Royal Delta rolled to victory in the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes Friday.

Royal Delta got the jump on the competition with a decisive move in the second turn and rolled to a 2 1/2 length victory in the $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes.

The Empire Maker filly trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, completed the 11/8 miles in 1:49 3/4 over a fast track to earn the winner's share of $150,000 in the Grade 2 stake for 3-year-old fillies.

Buster's Ready was second, 5 1/4 lengths ahead of Hot Summer.

Winning trainer, Bill Mott said that they "thought she was a nice filly early on, but soon realized she was a little better than we thought. She just keeps improving. Her second race was a little bit of a dud in Tampa. But she’s becoming a li8ttle more professional. She just keeps coming and coming. We’re going to look at the Mother Goose (June 25 at Belmont Park) next up in New York.”

Royal Delta, bred and owned by Palides Investments N.V. Inc, won for the third time in four career starts and pushed her career earnings over $182, 400.

Jockey Jose Lezcano says “Today we got pace. She broke good and relaxed. With the pace up front, when I asked her, she gave me the run I needed to go. I was surprised at the pace, and knew we had a good shot. We had plenty.”

Royal Delta paid $5.60, $3.80 and $2.60 and keyed a $34.20 exacta with Buster’s Ready, who was 7-1 in the wagering.

The 87th Black-Eyed Susan was the featured race of the 13 on The People’s Pink Party program that benefited the Susan G. Komen for the Cure held on a sun-drenched afternoon at historic Pimlico. The on-track crowd of 27,966 watched the $30,000 Pimlico Female Jockey Challenge won by Canadian standout Emma-Jayne Wilson, and the $20,000 Legends for the Cure II Race in which eight retired female riders returned to the saddle.

The 87th Black-Eyed Susan program generated a handle of $10,664,681.

The festivities included a presentation on a cupola to the Maryland affiliate of Komen and performances in the Turfside Terrace section by Steel Magnolia and The Lunabelles.

Maryland’s premier racing weekend continues Saturday with the Preakness Day program of a dozen races surrounding the 136th running of the Preakness Stakes. Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom is the 2-1 morning line favorite in the full field of 14 entered in the Preakness, which has a post time of 6:20 p.m. First post for the Preakness Day program is 10:45 a.m.