HONOR A. P.'S MARGIE'S INTENTION SPLASHES TO VICTORY IN RAIN-DELAYED BLACK-EYED SUSAN

Updated: May 16, 2025 at 8:06 pm
Margie's Intention | Bill Denver/MJC

By Christina Bossinakis

Baltimore, MD–At approximately the time that the GII George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan Stakes was scheduled to run, a severe storm was rolling through the Baltimore area, blackening the sky and kicking up wind and rain that gave those running for cover the impression of an approaching apocalypse. With a steady stream of people dutifully filing out of the infield tents and into the safety of Pimlico's main structure, the rapidly-moving storm made enough of a fuss to have spectators wondering if racing would go on with two races remaining on Friday's card.

Less than 45 minutes after the worst of it had passed, the sun did in fact re-emerge, highlighted by a double rainbow, as Pimlico's track crew worked diligently on the rain-drenched surface. The main event did in fact go on, although the final race on the card, a turf maiden special weight for fillies and mares, was cancelled.

With the horses finally being given the go-ahead at 7 p.m. under considerably cooled-down conditions, the field of nine broke cleanly away to commence their nine-furlong trip.

Sunland Park Oaks winner Runnin N Gunnin (Gun Runner) dropped anchor straight out of the gate, as Paris Lily (City of Light) shot to the front with Liam in the Dust (Liam's Map) in hot pursuit to her inside as Princess Aliyah (Into Michief) and Moon Cache (Mosler) were about two lengths behind and favored Margie's Intention (Honor A.P.), making her first start for trainer Brad Cox, tucked in just behind those two. Continuing down the backside, the positions of the top quartet remained relatively unchanged, except for the 5-2 choice who continued to scrape paint in an improved fourth through a :46.38 half. Seemingly with plenty of horse underneath him, Joel Rosario aboard Paris Lily cut the final turn clear of Margie's Intention and appeared to be on her way to victory. Given a couple of left-handed reminders followed by a right by Flavien Prat, the favorite proved resolute, and despite drift out late, she got up in the final strides to win by 3/4 of a length over the game Paris Lily. Kinzie Queen (McKinzie) closed with good energy to round out the trifecta.

“Honestly, turning for home it looked like the leader was going very well,” said Prat. “If she could open up on me, I don't think I was going to make it. But as we turned for home and she swapped leads she kept grinding and it felt like the filly in front didn't open up on me. when she got going to the eighth pole, I thought I had a chance.”

Cox was equally pleased after the black-type earning race.

“We liked her a good bit,” he said. “Elliott's [Walden, President and CEO of WinStar Farm] team bought into her and it all paid off today. Obviously, a big win being a Grade II and we thought she would like the mile and an eighth and she pretty much needed all of it to get there.”

He continued, “Turning for home, I knew she had momentum going forward and I knew the filly on the lead [Paris Lily] had set a pretty solid pace and she was tough to run down. She ran a big race. We haven't had her that long, but she performed well on an off track this winter. I thought she moved forward today. It was a demanding race; she was under a ride turning for home and she finished the race off. We will ship her back to Kentucky Sunday evening and see how she comes out of it.”

Walden added, “We thought maybe giving her eight weeks and letting her catch up to herself would help her. And she ran super. Distance isn't a problem, and we'll see where she takes us from here.”

Fourth going six panels in her career bow facing fellow Louisiana-breds in December, the Baron Stable-owned filly finished a well-beaten fourth for Brendan Walsh before bouncing back to air by 11 3/4 lengths while stretching to a mile next time in the Fair Grounds slop Jan. 18. Making it two straight taking the next step up to allowance foes over that track and trip Feb. 8, the dark bay had to settle for second to Blue Prize (Aurelius Maximus) in the Louisiana Broodmare of the Year Flashy Prize Stakes. Margie's Intention had to settle for second again in the restricted Mar. 22 Crescent City Oaks.

Pedigree Notes:

The third foal out of Playful Dancer, Margie's Intention holds the distinction of being the first black-type winner for her unraced dam. The 10-year-old mare is also represented by a yearling filly by Drain the Clock and a filly foal by Star Guitar. With Friday's Black-Eyed Susan score, the filly gives sire Honor A.P. his first graded stakes winner. The Lane's End stallion is also responsible for Saturday's Preakness contender Heart of Honor, who is multiple-group placed in the UAE. Second dam SW Dance Hall Days (Seeking Daylight) is a half-sister to GI Prioress winner Cat Moves (Tale of the Cat).

Win Star Farm bought into the filly following her latest victory. Walden explained the purchase of the Louisiana-bred filly that had only ever competed against fellow La.-breds.

“Jerry Brown from Thoro-Graph really liked her. We'd seen her at the 2-year-old sale; we'd looked at her then. So, I knew quite a bit about her when he mentioned her, knew she was a really pretty filly,” he explained. “So, it made sense to us. We bought her privately, then turned her over to Brad [Co]). Brendan [Walsh] had done a great job with her. We have plenty of horses with Brad, and that was the only reason for the change. We looked at her race record, running every three weeks down there in all those Louisiana-bred stakes. You want to take opportunity when it's there, if you're a Louisiana-bred.”

Friday, Pimlico Race Course
GEORGE E. MITCHELL BLACK-EYED SUSAN S.-GII, $300,000, Pimlico, 5-16, 3yo, f, 1 1/8m, 1:52.05, sy.
1–MARGIE'S INTENTION, 118, f, 3, by Honor A. P.
1st Dam: Playful Dancer, by Into Mischief
2nd Dam: Dance Hall Days, by Seeking Daylight
3rd Dam: Dance Move, by Capote
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($57,000 Ylg '23 FTKOCT; $185,000 2yo '24 OBSAPR). O-Baron Stable & WinStar Farm LLC; B-Coteau Grove Farms LLC (LA); T-Brad H Cox; J-Flavien Prat. $180,000. Lifetime Record: 6-3-2-0, $294,880. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report &  5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Paris Lily, 120, f, 3, City of Light–Storm Lily, by Storm Cat. 1ST BLACK-TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK-TYPE. O/B-Godolphin LLC (KY); T-Brendan P Walsh. $60,000.
3–Kinzie Queen, 122, f, 3, McKinzie–A. P.'s Glory, by Mineshaft. 1ST BLACK-TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK-TYPE. ($140,000 RNA Ylg '23 KEESEP). O-John Holleman & Compton Racing LLC; B-Curtis C Green (KY); T-Greg Compton. $30,000.
Margins: 3/4, 1 1/4, 4 1/4. Odds: 2.50, 5.40, 9.00.
Also Ran: Reply, Amarth, Liam in the Dust, Princess Aliyah, Moon Cache, Runnin N Gunnin. Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

KEITH AND GINGER MYERS ARE THE TOBA MAY MEMBERS OF THE MONTH

-Carly Silver, The BloodHorse

On March 22 at Fair Grounds, a local hero delivered a win for the home team. Six-year-old gelding Touchuponastar , bred by Keith and Ginger Myers’ Coteau Grove Farms, outclassed rivals including 2024 champion three-year-old male Sierra Leone  to capture the New Orleans Classic Stakes (G2). 

Natives of Palmetto, Louisiana—whose population numbers in the hundreds—Keith and Ginger come from farming backgrounds. Keith’s interest in Thoroughbreds was sparked early on. Keith recalled, “Yeah, so my grandfather was very passionate about horse racing. It was my mother’s father, and so I’d spend as much time with him and my grandmother as I could because I just loved everything about it.” He rode his grandfather’s horses and admired his sharp style. For her part, Ginger’s family raised cattle, but she fell in love with horses after she and Keith purchased what would become Coteau Grove in 2008, and they began foaling. Coteau Grove’s focus on mares led Ginger to adopt a slogan: “It’s a girls’ world.”

Located in Sunset—a spot known for its rich soil—Coteau Grove now spreads over 475 acres, and the Myers live on the property. Keith shared, “We have two stallions, but they don’t board here. They board at a stallion farm [Whispering Oaks Farm in Carencro] that’s just about four miles up the road from us. We keep them there. We currently have 62 mares, but they’re all Kentucky bloodlines.

“When we started to build the farm, we bought the first eight horses in November of 2008 at the Keeneland Sale. And from those eight, the very first horse born on the farm was Little Ms Protocol. Ginger helped deliver her, imprinted her, stayed in the stall with her overnight.” He added, “We paid $400,000 total for the eight mares. And Little Ms Protocol was the first one born on the farm, our first runner, and she made $731,000 and paid for the first piece of property we bought and the eight horses we bought.” Named for how she crossed her legs after falling down while learning to stand, Little Ms Protocol foaled grade 2-placed The Great One (by Nyquist); she had a Gunite   colt this year and will be bred back to Wit.

In 2020, Coteau Grove-bred No Parole   (by Violence) captured the Woody Stephens Stakes (G1). He ran against grade 3 winner Wit  , now standing at Whispering Oaks. With both horses, Coteau Grove and Whispering Oaks are bringing Kentucky quality to Louisiana. Keith reflected, “In Louisiana’s program, breeders get 25 percent of earnings for horses that—for horses that were bred by stallions domiciled in Louisiana, and 20 percent if you choose to go to Kentucky every other year, you get 20 percent on those. So it’s pretty lucrative. But moving Wit down here, I mean, a lot of the breeders see it as an opportunity to get to a Kentucky horse without having to go to the expense of sending horses to Kentucky. So I think just upping the quality of stallions in the state was something we thought that would be well-received, and it has been.”

As for Touchuponastar, he is by leading Louisana sire Star Guitar   out of the Lion Heart mare Touch Magic. Touch Magic also foaled stakes-placed Voila Magic; she has a Flightline   foal by her side and will be bred back to Star Guitar. He is campaigned by Set-Hut LLC, operated by Keith and Ginger’s friend, ex-NFL quarterback Jake Delhomme, as well as Jake’s father, Jerry, and brother, Jeff. In addition, Jeff Delhomme trains Touchuponastar, and adviser Andrew Cary has helped make the farm a success. With such close connections, Touchuponastar’s New Orleans win was even more significant. “I mean, everyone in the stands, everybody just erupted, because they all knew what just happened as well,” Keith said, adding that there were “just a lot of Louisiana connections that were made to look very good on that day.” 

Louisiana’s Horse of the Year in 2023, Touchuponastar has won 15 of 21 starts and earned $1,412,900. And he doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. “He doesn’t show any signs of being done,” Keith said. “I mean, I don’t know if you looked at the race, the replay, but what’s more impressive than the race is what he did when he crossed the finish line. He just kept going. I mean, the jockey was having trouble slowing him down. It’s like he was going to go around again. It was unbelievable.” And Coteau Grove isn’t slowing down, either, as Keith and Ginger plan to board more horses at their property; it looks like the sky is the limit for Coteau Grove.