Brittany Russell Looks to Build Resume in G2 Black-Eyed Susan
At 0h03, on May 15, 2025 • By Pimlico Race Course
Throughout her still young but meteoric career, Brittany Russell has often been in a class by herself. Only the fourth female trainer ever to win a meet title in Maryland in the spring of 2022, she became the first to do it more than once and now has nine to her credit, the most recent coming at the Laurel Park stand that ended May 4.
In 2023 Russell made history as the first woman to lead Maryland’s annual standings in wins by a trainer at Laurel and Pimlico Race Course, a feat she repeated in 2024. Next weekend, the 35-year-old Russell will take aim at winning one of the most prestigious races on her home circuit on one of the biggest stages in racing.
Russell will saddle Repole Stable’s Reply in the $300,000 George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan (G2) Friday, May 15 at Pimlico. The 101st running of the 1 1/8-mile event for 3-year-old fillies headlines a spectacular 14-race program that includes six stakes, three graded, worth $1.05 million in purses and serves as a fitting prelude to Saturday’s 150th Preakness Stakes (G1), Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.
Other graded stakes on the Black-Eyed Susan program are the historic $250,000 Pimlico Special (G3) for 3-year-olds and up at the Preakness distance of 1 3/16 miles and $150,000 Miss Preakness (G3) for 3-year-old fillies sprinting six furlongs.
Rounding out the stakes action are the listed $125,000 Allaire du Pont Distaff for fillies and mares 3 and up going 1 1/8 miles and a pair of scheduled turf events – the $125,000 Hilltop for 3-year-old fillies at one mile and $100,000 The Very One, a five-furlong dash for females 3 and older.
First-race post time Friday is 11:30 a.m. Post time for the Black-Eyed Susan, carded as Race 13, is scheduled for 5:44 p.m.
Only one female trainer has ever won the Black-Eyed Susan, Deborah Bodner, who also owned 1997 heroine Salt It. Russell is the most recent to try it, finishing sixth with 63-1 longshot Cats Inthe Timber in 2023.
Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. has been named on Reply.
