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The Preakness Stakes is a prestigious Grade I stakes race 1 3/16 mile (1.91 km) thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds, held on the third Saturday in May of each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds (57 kg); fillies 121 lb (55 kg). The Preakness Stakes has been termed "The Run for the Black-Eyed Susans" because a horseshoe of black-eyed susans (Rudbeckia hirta), the state flower of Maryland, is traditionally placed around the winner's neck. The 2006 race was run on Saturday, May 20, 2006, and was won by Bernardini after pre-race favorite Barbaro broke his right rear leg coming out of the starting gate.
The Preakness is the second and shortest leg in thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, and almost always attracts the Kentucky Derby winner, some of the other horses that ran in the Derby, and often a few horses that did not start in the Derby. (The phrase "Triple Crown" was not applied to this series of races until the 1930s.) It is followed by the third leg, the Belmont Stakes.
Two years before the Kentucky Derby was run for the first time, Pimlico introduced its new stakes race for three-year-olds, the Preakness, during its first-ever spring race meet in 1873. Governor Bowie had named the then mile and one-half (2.41 km) race in honor of Dinner Party Stakes winner, Preakness, from the Preakness Stables in Wayne, New Jersey.
The first Preakness drew seven starters; John Chamberlain's three-year-old, Survivor, galloped home easily by ten lengths, the largest margin of victory until 2004, winning a purse of $2,050.
In 1889, George "Spider" Anderson became the first African-American jockey to win the Preakness. Between 1890 and 1908, the Preakness was run at Morris Park Racetrack in the Bronx, New York and at the Gravesend, New York racetrack.
Just after the horses for the Preakness are called to the post, the audience is invited to sing "Maryland, My Maryland," the official state song of Maryland. Traditionally, the United States Naval Academy Glee Club assembles in the Pimlico infield to lead the song. This tradition mirrors the singing of "My Old Kentucky Home" at the post parade for the Kentucky Derby.
As soon as the Preakness winner has been declared official, a painter climbs a ladder to the top of a replica of the Old Clubhouse cupola. He applies the colors of the victorious owner's silks on the jockey and horse which are part of the weather vane atop the infield structure. The horseshoe of black-eyed susans is also placed around the winning horse's neck at this time and a replica of the Woodlawn Vase is given to the winning horse's owner. Should that horse have also won the Kentucky Derby, speculation and excitement immediately begin to mount as to whether that horse will go on to win the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing at the Belmont Stakes in June.
The practice started in 1909 at Pimlico when a horse and rider weather vane sat at the top of the old Members' Clubhouse, which was constructed when Pimlico opened in 1870. The Victorian building was destroyed by fire in June, 1966. A replica of the old building's cupola was built to stand in the Preakness winner's circle in the infield.
In 1917, the first "Woodlawn Vase" was awarded to the Preakness winner which he was not allowed to keep. Eventually a half-size reproduction of the trophy was given winners to keep permanently. The original trophy is kept at the Baltimore Museum of Art and brought to the Preakness race each year for the winner's presentation ceremony.
In 1918, twenty six horses entered the race and it was run in two divisions providing for two winners that year.
In 1948, the Preakness was televised for the first time by CBS.
The Preakness has been run at seven different distances:
- 1 1/2 miles (2.41 km) -- 1873 to 1888 and 1890
- 1 1/4 miles (2.01 km) -- 1889
- 1 1/16 miles (1.71 km) -- 1894 to 1900 and 1908
- 1 mile 70 yards (1.67 km) -- 1901 to 1907
- 1 mile (1.61 km) -- 1909 and 1910
- 1 1/8 miles (1.81 km) -- 1911 to 1924
- 1 3/16 miles (1.91 km) -- 1925 to present
The leading Preakness winning jockeys are:
- Eddie Arcaro : 6 - including 2 consecutive wins in 1950-51
- Pat Day : 5 - including 3 consecutive wins in 1994-96
- George Barbee, Bill Hartack and Lloyd Hughes : 3
The leading Preakness winning trainers are:
- Robert W. Walden : 7
- Thomas J. Healey : 5
- D. Wayne Lukas : 5
- Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons : 4
- Horace A. "Jimmy" Jones : 4
- Bob Baffert : 4
- John Whalen : 3
Calumet Farm is both the leading breeder and owner of Preakness winners with 7 each.
Set by Tank's Prospect in 1985 and equalled by Louis Quatorze in 1996, the speed record for the current 1 3/16 miles (1.91 km) Preakness is 1 minute 53 2/5 seconds. The record victory margin is 11½ lengths, by Smarty Jones in 2004.
Preakness Stakes winners
A † designates a Triple Crown Winner
Note: D. Wayne Lukas swept the 1995 Triple Crown with two different horses.
External links
Sports in Baltimore | United States horse races | American Graded Stakes Races | Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
"Preakness Stakes"