Rampellini: How I'd play the Black-Eyed Susan-Preakness Double

There’s a simple approach to the Pimlico double linking the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes on Friday and the Preakness on Saturday, and there’s a complex one. The easy route would be to stand firm with the strong favorites, LUMINANCE in the Black-Eyed Susan and AMERICAN PHAROAH in the Preakness. But, we’ll dig a little deeper:

FRIDAY

Black-Eyed Susan, Race 11

LUMINANCE (8) exits a second in the Santa Anita Oaks won by Stellar Wind, who closed from well back for fourth as the favorite in the Kentucky Oaks. Luminance, meanwhile, shows a bullet five-eighths work in preparation for the Black-Eyed Susan. She dueled through some quick fractions in the Santa Anita Oaks and could take these box to wire, but she’s also won from off the pace. Further, the outside draw could give jockey Martin Garcia options, with Luminance a candidate to sit off SWEETGRASS (6), who is stretching out from seven-eighths to a mile and an eighth, and DEVINE AIDA (7), a fresh horse with speed. The question marks for LUMINANCE might be the mile and an eighth and the surface if the track is off, although she shows a strong wet-track Tomlinson Rating of 419. INCLUDE BETTY (5) is the lone horse in the field coming out of the Kentucky Oaks, and she finished eighth after trouble at a key point in the race. She faced 13 others that afternoon and will go up against just eight Friday. A concern is whether she will get the pace she needs to fuel her closing kick. Devine Aida has four wins from six starts, including stakes victories on dirt and turf. She might be at her best up on the front end, and she found herself sitting off the leaders last time when making her graded debut in the Gulfstream Park Oaks. DANESSA DELUXE (1) could make good use of the added ground as a daughter of Summer Bird, and she also has reason to move forward in her second start since November.

A's: 8
B's: 1, 5, 7

SATURDAY

Preakness, Race 13

AMERICAN PHAROAH (1), FIRING LINE (8) and DORTMUND (2) look like the horses to key on following their one-two-three finish in the Kentucky Derby. They were a total of three lengths apart after the mile and a quarter, and shortening up to a mile and three-sixteenths might help all three of them Saturday. American Pharoah has the burden of the rail draw, but he’s proven to be a good gate horse and were he to duel with Dortmund or perhaps MR. Z (3), he will have the perk of saving ground from the fence following a wide trip in his Kentucky Derby. Dortmund turned in a valiant pacesetting effort in the Kentucky Derby, while Firing Line, who pressed him, draws well, to the outside of American Pharoah and Dortmund. Firing Line might get an ideal tracking trip. In many ways, this looks like a rider’s race.

A's: 1, 2, 8