BALTIMORE – Avoiding favorites in the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes has been sage advice, the public choice having not won this Grade 2, $300,000 race for 3-year-old fillies since Royal Delta beat four horses in 2011. Identifying the favorite in Friday’s 100th running of the Black-Eyed Susan at Pimlico is no easy task with four of the eight runners pegged between 5-2 and 9-2 on the morning line and only one having been successful in graded competition. Gun Song failed her audition to make it into the Kentucky Oaks when she finished fourth behind Power Squeeze in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks on March 30. She did not have the most comfortable of trips that day, racing between horses and having the favorite, Ways and Means pressing her from the outside. “A lot didn’t go right. She didn’t get away from the gate as cleanly as usual; she had Ways and Means pressing from the outside,” said Mark Hennig, the trainer of Gun Song. “Hopefully, she can break well and get a good position and things can go a little smoother.” Prior to the Gulfstream Park Oaks, Gun Song had won a one-turn-mile allowance race by 5 3/4 lengths after finishing second in the same condition to Leslie’s Rose, who came back to win the Grade 1 Ashland but finished 13th in the Kentucky Oaks. :: DRF's Preakness Headquarters: Contenders, latest news, and more Gun Song is by Gun Runner but is out of a mare, Nicole H, who won eight sprint stakes. “She still needs to prove that she wants to be a two-turn horse, that’s the biggest question for us,” Hennig said. “She gives us every indication that’s what she wants, but until they do it effectively you got to keep it in mind her mother was a sprinter.” At 1 1/8 miles, the Black-Eyed Susan will be the farthest distance any of these fillies have run to date. California shipper Corposo is the tepid 5-2 morning-line favorite. She finished third, nine lengths behind upset winner Nothing Like You, in the Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks. Despite the short field, Corposo was three wide on the first turn and four wide on the second. Trainer Peter Eurton didn’t make any excuses for his filly’s effort. “Did she run her best race? It’s hard to say. I thought she ran well enough to deserve a shot,” Eurton said. Corposo will break from post 7 under Tyler Gaffalione. “I’m pleased with the draw. I don’t have any problem with the distance, I like it,” Eurton said. “We’ll see if she likes the racetrack.” Lemon Muffin is the only graded stakes winner in the field, having upset the Grade 3 Honeybee at Oaklawn Park at 28-1 in February. Since then, she has been soundly beaten when seventh in the Grade 2 Fantasy and eighth in the Kentucky Oaks just two weeks ago. D. Wayne Lukas, who trains Lemon Muffin, said he doesn’t “have any idea” why she ran so poorly in the Kentucky Oaks and isn’t sure what to expect come Friday. “She’s inconsistent,” said Lukas, a four-time Black-Eyed Susan winner. “She does that in the morning a little bit too. She’ll work [five furlongs in] 58 flat and the next one will be 1:04. If she brings her ‘A’ game, she’s tough. She galloped really strong [Tuesday] morning; she looked terrific. I don’t know if that’s a good indication or not.” Flavien Prat rides Lemon Muffin, who, as the 124-pound highweight will spot two to six pounds to the field. Recharge will likely look to wire this field under Joel Rosario. Recharge, a daughter of Gun Runner trained by Steve Asmussen, was game winning the Sunland Park Oaks in February but tired to fifth after setting the pace and fading in the Fantasy, which was won by subsequent Kentucky Oaks winner Thorpedo Anna. Call Another Play and Jeanne Marie finished one-two in the Weber City Miss Stakes at Laurel Park on April 20. It was the third straight win for Call Another Play, a streak that began in a $40,000 claiming race in February. Her last two victories have been at 1 1/16 miles around two turns. “She’s a big filly, she had to develop and start to figure things out,” trainer Michael Trombetta said. “Looks like going farther has done her some favors.” :: Get Preakness Betting Strategies for exclusive wagering insights, contender analysis, and more Prior to finishing second in the Weber City Miss, Jeanne Marie won the Main Line Stakes at Parx in March. Whocouldaskformo, fourth in the Gazelle at Aqueduct, and Ringy Dingy, who has not raced since finishing seventh in the Grade 2 Demoiselle in December, complete the field. The Black-Eyed Susan goes as race 13 on a 14-race card that begins at 11:30 a.m. and includes five other stakes, including the Grade 3, $250,000 Pimlico Special. The Black-Eyed Susan is also the first half of a daily double linked to Saturday’s Preakness Stakes. The wager is a $1 minimum and has a 21 percent takeout. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.