Gary and Mary West’s homebred Actress waltzed onto the set Friday, May 19 and broke her maiden in her first graded stakes debut as she won the $250,000 Gr.2 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico Race Course by a head.

Tapa Tapa Tapa led the way through a quarter-mile in :23.12 and half-mile in :46.38 and shortly after the three-quarter mark lost her position. Shimmering Aspen gained the lead briefly. Actress, under regular rider Nik Juarez, ran near the back of the field for the majority of the race but advanced along the rail around the far turn and then eased out past the five-sixteenths pole. She steadied off the heels of the others nearing the lane and then moved to the four path. After lugging in slightly under right-hand whipping, the daughter of Tapit took the lead inside the eighth pole and dug in late to hit the wire with her head in front. Lights of Medina launched a rally late but could not prevail.

The final time for the mile and an eighth over a sloppy track was 1:51.87.

“They were running fast up front and I was sitting behind. … When she made her move, she really started running and carried it on,” said Juarez.

The victory was the first Black-Eyed Susan for both Juarez and trainer Jason Servis.

“I always liked this filly,” Servis said. “I told them she’s a good filly from day one. I’ve got to hand it to the Wests. They were on board the whole time and a lot of owners wouldn’t be. But they’ve been great. They’re good for the business. They deserve it. They love the game. It’s not just the money. They’ve got a passion for it.”

Their homebred filly was bred in Kentucky and is out of the Milwaukee Brew mare Milwaukee Appeal. From her three career starts she boasts one victory and two seconds for earnings of $172,150.