Oaks runner-up Land Over Sea heads Black-Eyed Susan noms
In the Navy Now (black and white silks) and A. P. Majetstic both are pointed to the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes. Photo by Laurie Asseo.
From a Maryland Jockey Club release
Kentucky Oaks (G1) runner-up Land Over Sea, Grade 2-winning stablemate of Kentucky Derby (G1) champion Nyquist, tops a list of 43 sophomore fillies nominated to the 92nd running of the $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2) May 20 at Pimlico Race Course.
In addition to a program of championship racing that offers seven stakes, four of them graded, worth $1.15 million, Black-Eyed Susan Day will also feature the return of the Ultimate Girls Day Out, an entire afternoon dedicated to the spirit and strength of women.
Trained by Doug O’Neill for J. Paul Reddam and ridden by Mario Gutierrez, the same connections attempting to lead Nyquist to victory in the 141st Preakness Stakes (G1) May 21, Land Over Sea has finished worse than third only once in nine lifetime starts with two wins, including the Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) March 26.
Most recently, the chestnut daughter of Bellamy Road closed on the outside to be second in the Oaks by 2 ¾ lengths to Cathryn Sophia, the multiple graded stakes-winning Maryland-bred that is also among the Black-Eyed Susan nominees.
Land Over Sea shipped to Pimlico with Nyquist on Monday and got her first look at the main track Wednesday morning under the watchful eye of O’Neill’s assistant, Jack Sisterson.
“She did great,” he said. “We’re very pleased with how she came out of the Oaks.”
Maryland-bred trainer Mike Trombetta, who splits strings between Laurel Park and the Fair Hill Training Center in Fair Hill, Md., nominated both A P Majetstic and In the Navy Now to the Black-Eyed Susan. A P Majetstic earned an all-fees-paid entry to the race with a victory via disqualification of her stablemate in the Weber City Miss Stakes April 9 at Laurel.
A P Majetstic was making her stakes debut in the Weber City Miss, while In the Navy Now had finished third to Sophia’s Song following a troubled trip in the Caesar’s Wish Stakes March 12 at Laurel.
“A P Majetstic is a ‘Win and You’re In,’ so we’re going to take a look at it. We’re pointing in that direction with both of those fillies,” Trombetta said. “We’re going to see how the field comes up and then talk about it a little bit more as we get closer.”
Also nominated are Grade 1 winners Rachel’s Valentina and Weep No More, sixth and seventh, respectively, in the Kentucky Oaks; Grade 2 winners Dothraki Queen and Go Maggie Go; Grade 3 winners Jet Black Magic and Lightstream; and multiple graded stakes-placed Dream Dance, She’s a Warrior and Thrilled.
