LAUREL, Md. – It may not have been the Kentucky Oaks, but the connections of My Miss Mo felt just as happy – and somewhat validated – to have won Friday’s Grade 2, $300,000 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at Laurel Park. After fending off a challenge from Jumping the Gun from the middle of the turn into deep stretch, My Miss Mo edged clear late under Tyler Gaffalione to win by 1 3/4 lengths. Jumping the Gun finished second by one length over A.P.'s Girl. Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. scratched My Miss Mo out of the May 1 Oaks after Kentucky regulatory veterinarians had questions about the filly’s soundness to run in that race. Joseph disagreed with the veterinarians' concerns and set his sights on the Black-Eyed Susan. Had she been a vet scratch in Kentucky, My Miss Mo would not have been allowed to run Friday. “They did have a question mark,” Joseph said, referring to the Kentucky veterinarians. “They wanted us to do PET scans and all that kind of stuff. They tricked me with a PET scan before, so I wasn’t going to do that. We took X-rays, and the X-rays were fine and the horse was fine. The horse had a work, she came out of the breeze well, everything went well. She was obviously good to run today, correct?” :: Get ready for Preakness with DRF past performances, picks, and betting strategies! Joseph had an issue last November at the Breeders’ Cup with regulatory veterinarians who scratched White Abarrio from the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile while he was warming up on track minutes before the race. White Abarrio finished second in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup in January and won the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap last month, defeating Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner Sovereignty and Preakness winner Journalism. The Black-Eyed Susan, which came about 40 minutes after Joseph won the Grade 3 Pimlico Special with Navajo Warrior, felt just as sweet as winning the Oaks, Joseph said. Joseph trains My Miss Mo for Rich Averill, Bill and Terry Mathis, and Tristan De Meric, all of whom he had to tell a few days before the Oaks that he was going to scratch out. “I told the owners, 'I've been through this already. I understand it very good. We’re going to take this filly out,' ” Joseph said. “Rich, it was obviously his first Oaks, so it was harder to tell him than [the Mathises], but he understood it. We took her out and it worked out for the best. Today proved it – she’s a Grade 2 winner. Would she have won the Oaks? Probably not. We’re going to enjoy this as much as the Oaks.” My Miss Mo, breaking from the outside post in this nine-horse field, broke a step toward the right out of the gate. Tyler Gaffalione quickly guided My Miss Mo toward the front and was content to sit off the pace-setting Savor It through a half-mile in a pedestrian 49.10 seconds. Just before the three-eighths pole, My Miss Mo poked her head in front but then was confronted from the outside by Jumping the Gun, ridden by Luis Saez. Jumping the Gun poked her head in front at the five-sixteenths pole, but Gaffalione had more horse underneath him as the two ran together into deep stretch before My Miss Mo edged clear. “Going down the backside, I kept having to take a [hold],” Gaffalione said. “She was wanting to get going a little bit, but she was doing it very easy, so I tried to sit on her as long as I could. She was traveling beautifully, so I just let her be. As soon as I called on her at the eighth pole, she found another gear.” My Miss Mo, a daughter of Uncle Mo, covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:52.15 and returned $7 as the favorite. Joseph said he understands regulatory veterinarians have a difficult job to do, but he believes there is a more efficient way to do things and that communication is at the heart of creating a change in procedures. “You see some of these articles – ‘the vet scratches aren’t running back' – that’s like shoving it down our throats. Don’t do that to the trainers. They don’t appreciate it because you’re not analyzing the data correctly,” Joseph said. “That’s not the right way to do it. I want change for the better, and I think change for the better is when you have dialogue, and I think it’s going to happen.” Joseph said he would likely skip the Acorn at Saratoga and perhaps point My Miss Mo to the Delaware Oaks at Delaware Park on June 13. That’s where Jumping the Gun is going to run, as that filly is based at Delaware with trainer Andrew Simoff, who had mixed emotions about Friday’s result. “She ran good,” Simoff said. “Turning for home, I thought I had it. She just hung that last sixteenth a little, but she’ll do that, you know. I was talking to Luis [Saez] and he said maybe wait a little longer, don’t make the lead at the quarter pole.” Finishing behind Jumping the Gun, in order, were A.P.’s Girl, Majestic Lucia, Miss Fulton Gal, Holly’s Holiday, Braken Popa, Ivy Girl, and Savor It. Haute Diva scratched. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.