This Saturday the second jewel of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes, will run at Laurel Park in Laurel, Maryland. Normally the Preakness is held at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland, but has moved this year due to renovations at Pimlico. The race comes just two weeks after the Kentucky Derby and three weeks before the Belmont Stakes. The Preakness is 1 3/16 miles on dirt and has been this distance since 1925.
The Preakness was established just two years before the Kentucky Derby by the Governor of Maryland. The race was named after a colt named Preakness who won the inaugural Dinner Party Stakes at Pimlico in 1870. Pimlico Race Course is the second oldest racetrack in the United States. Between 1890 – 1908 the race was moved to New York due to the lack of interest in Maryland. It later returned permanently in 1909. The first winner of the Preakness was Survivor by 10 lengths. This record remained the largest margin of victory until 2004 when Smarty Jones won by 11 ½ lengths.
While the Kentucky Derby is known as the “Run for the Roses”, the Preakness is known as the “Run for the Black-Eyed Susans” which are the Maryland state flower. The Friday before the Preakness also hosts the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes for the 3-year-old fillies on a 1 1/8 mile dirt track.
The Preakness is the second most watched and attended horse race each year, second to the Kentucky Derby. Only 37 horses have won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, with 13 of those being Triple Crown winners. This will remain the same this year with Golden Tempo opting out of the race. Throughout the running of the Preakness Stakes only 6 fillies have won the race with the most recent being Swiss Skydiver in 2020. Eddie Arcaro is the winningest jockey, and Bob Baffert is the winningest trainer with 8 wins in Preakness Stakes history.
Riley Mott is set to race Incredibolt again this Saturday. He was unable to capture his first win in the Kentucky Derby as Incredibolt came in 6th and Albus finished in 15th but could capture his first win in the Preakness this year. Ocelli the long shot who finished 3rdin the Kentucky Derby is also set to race this weekend along with Great White who scratched from the Derby at the starting gate. Robusta who finished 14th in the Derby will also run in the Preakness. Silent Tactic was set to run this weekend but has scratched due to a lingering bruised foot. He was also scratched from the Derby for the same issue.