BALTIMORE – Goodonehoney overcame adversity to win her career debut. She stretched out from six furlongs to 1 1/16 miles to take a stakes next time out. On Friday at Pimlico, Goodonehoney will try to stay perfect when she takes a major class jump in the Grade 2, $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan, the featured race on a strong 14-race program. Goodonehoney’s victory in the $125,000 Weber City Miss at Laurel Park in April gave trainer Jason Egan his first stakes win. But when she joined his stable last November, she didn’t immediately stand out. “She was just kind of a good-sized 2-year-old who you could tell would probably want a distance of ground,” Egan said. “Nothing that would wow you, nothing flashy. She just kind of went through her paces without any issues.” :: Visit DRF's one-stop shop for Black-Eyed Susan and Preakness PPs, guides, and more! Goodonehoney tipped her hand in the final workout before her debut, scooting five furlongs from the gate in 1:01.20. The Laurel clocking staff called the drill “handily,” meaning she was not asked to extend herself. The work prompted Egan to call Goodonehoney’s breeders and co-owners, Bob and Sue Krangel, who go by Kasey K Racing Stable. “I told Mr. K she’d just had the best work of her life,” Egan said. Goodonehoney missed the break in her debut, then ran up into a switch behind horses on the turn under jockey Steve Hamilton. “I was looking for a place to go and she just threaded the needle and exploded,” Hamilton said. “When I tried to pull her up after the race, she went around the first turn faster than she came down the lane and I needed the outrider to help me.” Goodonehoney won by 4 3/4 lengths. “I don’t know how much she beat, but it was certainly reason to be optimistic,” Egan said. That performance and a lack of other suitable races prompted Egan to enter Goodonehoney in the Weber City Miss, which offered the winner a fees-paid berth in the Black-Eyed Susan. She showed improved speed and pulled away to score by seven lengths. Her Beyer Speed Figure jumped from 67 to 86. “She was a little keen early but she settled pretty well on the backstretch,” Egan said. “I didn’t think she’d win by seven. I also expected her to be a little more tired than she was.” :: View a list of resources and content related to the 2018 Preakness The Black-Eyed Susan will be a more difficult assignment for Goodonehoney, who already has outrun her pedigree. A Maryland-bred daughter of Great Notion, who stands for $5,000 at the Northview Stallion Station and keeps producing hard-knocking regional runners, Goodonehoney is out of the mare Diva’s Gold, who won 2 of 21 starts for the Krangels after they claimed her for $15,000 in 2010. How high is Goodonehoney’s ceiling? At this point, nobody knows for sure. “We’ve asked a lot of her in two races and we’ll be asking more in the Black-Eyed Susan,” Egan said. “But I think she wants that shot, and she’s earned it.” Egan, 36, is from Seattle. He graduated from the University of Arizona’s racetrack industry program in 2006 after having already done an internship at Michael Dickinson’s Tapeta Farm. He then worked for trainer Christine Janks in Ocala, Fla., and near Chicago at Arlington Park and Hawthorne. He later was hired by Todd Pletcher as a stable foreman at Keeneland and in Florida, then took an assistant’s position with Mike Trombetta at Delaware Park and in Maryland. Egan went out on his own in 2011 as a private trainer for Dale and Joan Everett. He now operates a public stable. Hamilton, 46, has won 1,369 races and led the standings at two Pimlico meets in 2004 and 2005. He’d have a lot more winners, but he walked away from riding in 2006 and returned home to Oklahoma to raise his two sons, Garrett, who is now 21, and Weston, 19. Weston is an apprentice jockey on the Maryland circuit and finished a close second in the Laurel Park winter standings. Steve Hamilton, or Cowboy as he is known, resumed riding in August 2016 and has steadily rebuilt his business. “After I came back, I asked myself, ‘How did I stay away so long?’” Hamilton said. “But the biggest thing was raising my boys. “I couldn’t ask for things to be going any better than they are now.” Hamilton has faith in Goodonehoney. “I’ve been galloping her the last few mornings and she’s coming to the race as good as you can ask,” Hamilton said. “I’m not concerned about anything. She’s been stepping up each time and has overcome it all. “I think it would be great for a Maryland horse to win this race.”