Hot Summer the One to Watch in Black Eyed Susan Stakes

Friday at Pimlico Racecourse is looking like one of the hottest tickets in town as the Black Eyed Susan Stakes anchors a top-class card at the Maryland racetrack. The $250,000 purse up for grabs makes the Grade 2 encounter even more interesting as an accomplished crowd of fillies look set to contest the 9f distance.

Acting Happy (Empire Maker) picked up the victory last year and then went on to take a few rough beats as the Richard Dutrow-trained contender may have been biting off a bit more than she could chew.

The key selection for this year's contest looks likely to be the in-form Hot Summer (Malibu Moon) a Canadian-bred filly who made a big statement when she took the Group 3 Comely Stakes at Aqueduct towards the end of it's meet in early April. This repaired a reputation that had been besmirched following a fifth-placed finish the Davona Dale Stakes at Gulfstream during it's winter meet.

Bill Mott's Royal Delta (Empire Maker) is also set to have a crack at the Friday feature at Pimlico which sets the stage for the 2011 Preakness Stakes on Saturday. She dropped down to the allowance circuit at Keeneland for her recent victory but will have taken plenty from the race and should emerge with momentum.

Garret Gomez is set to saddle Coax Liberty (Successful Appeal) and she has been running in a number of graded contests recently, albeit with minimal success. Her best recent run was an effort at Aqueduct when she went second by half a length in a Group 3 encounter.

Wyomia (Vindication) ran second in the Grade 1 Ashlandia Stakes at Keeneland and will have in-form jockey Julien Leparoux in the irons. She had produced some impressive form at Woodbine as a two-year-old when she took a Grade 3 contest on her seasonal bow, coming out of the Curtis Garrison barn in the coming season.