Black-Eyed Susan Day: Real Men Wear Pink
Drawing courtesy of Mel @dailyracefunies. To see more of Mel’s work, click here.
Kudos to The Maryland Jockey Club Racing Secretary, Georganne Hale, for constructing a terrific racing card on Friday and Saturday. Friday’s card has 13 races featuring the $500,000 G2 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes for 3 year old fillies (race 10).
There are two (2) events on Friday that highlight 2 legged female athletes. The 4th race is the 4th annual Lady Legends For The Cure race where a field of eight (8) thoroughbreds will be ridden by retired female jockeys. This is part of The Maryland Jockey Club teaming up with Susan G. Komen For The Cure for the day with additional events to raise awareness and money for the fight against breast cancer. One of the participating jockeys, Patti “PJ” Cooksey (far left in picture below) is a breast cancer survivors. The other ladies in the irons are (from left to right) Zoe Cadman (back for her 2nd year), first-time starter Stacie Clark-Rogers, Jennifer Rowland Small (winner of the 2012 race), Barbara Jo Rubin (first woman to win a race against men at a recognized track), Cheryl White (first African-American female jockey) and Mary Russ Tortora (4-year participant). Not pictured is Abigail Fuller, another first-time starter.
In addition to her earnings in the race, each rider will receive a $3,500 bonus. Pimlico will match the amount wagered on the 2013 winner in-state and make a contribution to Komen Maryland.
The third event is the Battle of the Sexes Challenge. It’s a jockey's challenge that features four of the North America’s top female jockeys versus four of the nation’s best male riders, competing in four races with points awarded based upon their finish. Competing on the female side will be former Maryland sensation Rosie Napravnik, Emma-Jayne Wilson, Forest Boyce and Kristina McManigell. The male fearsome foursome is made up of John Velazquez, Javier Castellano, Joel Rosario and Gary Stevens.
The jockey with the most points at the end of a four-race competition will be crowned champion. Riding assignments were determined by a drawing Sunday, May 12, and jockeys receive points for finishing first (12 points), second (6), third (4) and fourth (3) in each race. The champion jockey will earn $10,000. Other prize money: $7,000 (second), $6,000 (third), $4,000 (fourth), $2,000 (fifth) and $1,000 (sixth through eighth).
Another special wager begin offered on Friday is a Pimlico Special – Preakness DOUBLE wager. So take your best shot at picking the winners for these races for a potentially handsome payoff.
Selections for Pimlico's Black-Eyed Susan Day card are here.
For Preakness Day selections, fellow HRN blogger Matt Shifman and myself will post video analysis for every race while on-site at Old Hilltop (aka Pimlico Race Course).