Trainer Doug O'Neill is drawing most of the attention this week at Pimlico Race Course with his horse Nyquist, a 3-5 favorite to win the Preakness on Saturday two weeks after a Kentucky Derby win.
But O'Neill and his team might have a victory this weekend before Nyquist even starts. O'Neill's filly Land Over Sea is a 2-1 favorite to win the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes on Friday at Pimlico.
The Grade II Black-Eyed Susan Stakes, open to 3-year-old fillies, is 1 1/8 miles with a $250,000 prize. Post time is 4:50 p.m. Friday.
Land Over Sea comes in with just two weeks of rest after a second-place finish in the Kentucky Oaks on May 6 at Churchill Downs. The horse that won the Oaks, Cathryn Sophia, will not run in the Black-Eyed Susan. Neither will undefeated Songbird, who triumphed over Land Over Sea twice earlier this year in Santa Anita, Calif. They are the only horses to have defeated Land Over Sea this year. Both are focusing on races later in the summer, leaving the field fairly open for Land Over Sea.
"I'm a little biased, of course," O'Neill said with a smile, "but I can see her being a deserving favorite."
If O'Neill can win the Black-Eyed Susan and the Preakness, he would be the first to do so since Wayne Lukas won both with Serena's Song and Timber Country, respectively, in 1995.
Land Over Sea's owner and jockey, like Nyquist, are Paul Reddam and Mario Gutierrez, respectively. No team has pulled off the Black-Eyed Susan/Preakness double together since 1993.
"It's such a privilege to be around all the horses, but when you're lucky enough to work shoulder to shoulder with horses like Land Over Sea and Nyquist, it's an amazing honor," O'Neill said Wednesday. "And you realize you may never get lucky enough to have horses of that caliber in your barn again.
"Just trying to live in the moment, enjoy every bit of it and soak it all in."
Before the Kentucky Oaks, Land Over Sea won the Fair Grounds Oaks on March 26. She has stayed in good condition to be able to race three times in two months, and since Kentucky Derby weekend earlier this month, she has followed mostly the same schedule as Nyquist.
She took the same flight from Louisville, Ky., to Baltimore. She jogged two miles Wednesday and galloped Thursday, back-to-back with Nyquist. She will walk the track Friday morning before the race.
But she'll still face tough competition despite the absences of Songbird and Cathryn Sophia. Trainer Dale Romans, who won the 2015 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes with Keen Pauline, will saddle two horses starting immediately on Land Over Sea's outside, Ma Can Do It in the No. 4 position and Go Maggie Go at No. 5. Go Maggie Go ran fourth at the Kentucky Oaks, joining Land Over Sea as one of the only two fillies to run in both the Oaks and the Black-Eyed Susan.
"I've done it quite a bit, wheel horses back," Romans said in a release. "We used to do it all the time. I don't know how we got away from it. It became a numbers situation; the numbers said you have to wait. Truth of the matter is, run 'em."
Todd Pletcher, who has won the Black-Eyed Susan four times — tied with Lukas for most all-time — will saddle Kinsley Kisses, who will make her fourth career start facing slightly longer odds at 6-1. Last year, though, Keen Pauline faced the longest odds (15-1) in the field and still won, so anyone could be a threat to block O'Neill's team's path to a Black-Eyed Susan/Preakness sweep before it really starts.