Black-Eyed Susan top two likely headed in different directions
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My Miss Mo and Jumping the Gun, the winner and runner-up in the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan last Friday at Laurel Park, may part ways for now. Trainers Saffie Joseph Jr. and Andy Simoff have different goals for their 3-year-old fillies this summer, which could create a fork in the road, but both are planning returns to graded stakes company soon.
For the briefest moment at the top of the stretch at Laurel, Jumping the Gun pulled alongside My Miss Mo and ran on even terms with the 5-2 favorite, proving to be the only legitimate challenger to the eventual winner.
“I didn't want to go crazy because I had those guys filming me for the TV,” Simoff said. “I didn't want to start jumping up and down and get beat.”
In the end, Simoff’s upset bid came up short, as the Joseph-trained filly had something left and pulled clear under jockey Tyler Gaffalione. My Miss Mo’s overdue victory snapped a three-race losing streak, which included two hard-fought Grade 2 defeats at Gulfstream Park.
For many years, the first question for strong Black-Eyed Susan finishers has been whether they would take the natural next step to the Grade 3 Delaware Oaks in June. Last year, the top three finishers at Pimlico all came back at Delaware Park, and the move could not be better suited to Jumping the Gun. The two-time graded stakes runner-up is based at Delaware and will get an ideal chance to break through on her home track.
For Simoff, if a tough defeat in Maryland leads to an even sweeter victory at Delaware, it would certainly make up for it all. Saddling his first horse as a trainer in 1987, Simoff only entered horses in two graded stakes before Jumping the Gun came along, and if all goes well in the next month, she will be his first graded stakes runner at Delaware.
“That’s where I've been for the last 40 years,” Simoff said. “I moved down here in 1985. [The Delaware Oaks] is what we’re shooting for. It would be great.”
But while Jumping the Gun will return home in fine form, Joseph may buck the Delaware Oaks trend with My Miss Mo. The trainer said he has not completely eliminated the possibility of entering the race, which will be run on June 13, but worries it might be “a little too quick” for his liking. Instead, he may try to find another race in late June or July to prepare his filly for the Grade 1 Alabama, a 1 1/4-mile stakes at Saratoga on Aug 22.
“I could probably see her taking a shot in the Alabama, but we need to find somewhere before that,” Joseph said. “She will get the distance quite easy. Distance won’t be a problem for her. When she has stretched out is when we’ve seen the best of her.”
My Miss Mo ran exclusively on four weeks’ rest as a juvenile and maintained a similar regimen between her first two starts as a 3-year-old, but Joseph gave her seven weeks before the Black-Eyed Susan at a new 1 1/8-mile distance, which led to her first graded stakes score. It stands to reason the trainer would consider a similar formula before going even longer in Grade 1 company this summer.
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