It's the 134 running of the $1 million Preakness Stakes, the middle jewel of the Triple Crown. Three year old Preakness Stakes Contenders, will run the one and 3/16th mile track at Pimlico in Baltimore, Maryland. In the U.S., all the action takes place on Saturday, May 16, 2009. More Preakness Stakes horse betting information
The Preakness Story
On a late summer evening in 1868, an agreement among sportsmen to stage a
special race to commemorate a memorable occasion became the foundation for the
middle jewel of racing's Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes.
Governor Oden Bowie of Maryland, a horsemen and racing entrepreneur, was
among the distinguished roster of guests at an elegant dinner party after the
races at the Union Hall Hotel in Saratoga given by Milton H. Sanford, who had
gained much of his wealth selling blankets during the Civil War. John Hunter of
New York proposed that the feast be commemorated by a stake race to be run in
the fall of 1870 for three-year old colts and fillies at two miles, to be known
as the Dinner Party Stakes in honor of the evening. Bowie electrified the
gathering by suggesting a purse of $15,000, a staggering sum in those days.
Governor Bowie requested that the Dinner Party Stakes be run in Maryland, and
pledged to build a new racetrack to host it.
Hence, the idea for Pimlico Race Course was born, and in the fall of 1870,
the inaugural Dinner Party Stakes was run on Pimlico's opening. Won by Sanford's
Preakness, one of only two male entrants in the seven horse field, the massive
bay colt was a first time starter. His jockey, Billy Hayward, followed a unique
tradition of the day after the race: a wire was stretched across the track from
the judges' stand with a small silk bag filled with gold pieces. When the race
was over, the winning jockey untied the string holding the bag and claimed the
money. It is believed this custom brought about the modern day "wire" at the
finish line, and the designation of "purse" money. Bowie's Dinner Party Stakes
would later be run at Pimlico as the Dixie Handicap (now known as the "Dixie"),
and hold the honor of being the 8th oldest stakes race in America.
Two years before the Kentucky Derby would appear, Pimlico was busy
introducing its new stakes race for three-year olds, the Preakness, during its
first-ever spring race meet in 1873. Governor Bowie had named the mile and
one-half race in honor of Dinner Party Stakes - winner, Preakness. The scene was
set for the first Preakness Stakes on Tuesday, May 27, a warm and muggy spring
day at Pimlico. The crowd, well aware of Bowie's accomplishments in putting
Baltimore on the national Thoroughbred map, swelled to 12,000. The
violet-painted stands and the Victorian Clubhouse, which survived until a fire
destroyed it in 1966, were decorated with the Maryland Jockey Club blue and
white pennants. Entertainment was provided by Itzel's Fifth Regiment Band, which
played operatic airs from Martha and Il Trovatore, and popular tunes of the day.
The first Preakness drew seven starters, but it was John Chamberlain's
three-year old, Survivor, who galloped home easily by ten lengths to a purse of
$2,050 to this day, the largest Preakness margin of victory.
The new Preakness, off to a great start, prospered for the next 17 years. The
early Preakness Stakes attracted quality horses and good crowds; however, in
1889, due to changes in the racing industry, the Preakness and Pimlico galloped
to a halt. In 1890, the Preakness was run at Morris Park in New York. The
Maryland Jockey Club continued to be involved in racing by presenting some
steeplechasing and even trotting races at Pimlico, but the Preakness did not
return home to Pimlico until 1909. During this interval, the Preakness was run
for 15 years at the Gravesend track in Brooklyn, New York. These 15 so-called
"lost" Preaknesses were officially enrolled in the race history of the classic
in 1948; the 1890 Preakness was added in the 1960's.
Several traditions enjoyed today are attributed to the spontaneity of the
1909 Preakness renewal. For example, the musical rendering of "Maryland My
Maryland" began when a bugler, moved by the spirit of the day, began playing
Maryland's historic state song. The rest of the band, inspired by the music,
joined in and the crowd reacted enthusiastically. In addition, Preakness 1909
also inaugurated the concept of the "painting of the colors" atop the weather
vane, to honor the winning horse. From that day in 1909, the Preakness has run
without a break each year at Pimlico, steadily growing in popularity and purse
value. It was once said that having the Preakness in Baltimore is like being
able to schedule the World Series or Super Bowl every year.
The Preakness Stakes has remained throughout history a true test of a horse's
ability and class, a race where remarkable horses meet one another other in a
great classic. The phrase "Triple Crown" was not coined until the 1930's, but it
is this race on the third Saturday in May where the best of the Derby horses
gather to see if there will be that window of opportunity for a Triple Crown
prospect. Much goes on during this colorful time at Pimlico, but it has always
been the horse that draws the fans. As poet Ogden Nash wrote: "The Derby is a
race of aristocratic sleekness, for horses of birth to prove their worth to run
in the Preakness."
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