This year’s Preakness Stakes takes place on Saturday May 16.
After the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness is one of the biggest races in the US racing calendar. The Preakness Stakes is a Grade I stakes race 1-3/16 mile (1.91 km) thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old horses, held on the third Saturday in May 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 blanket of Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta), the state flower of Maryland, is traditionally placed around the winner’s neck.
This year’s Preakness Stakes 2009 taks place on Saturday May 16.
The Preakness is the second leg in American thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown series 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 Preakness is 1 3/16 miles, or 9 1/2 furlongs, compared to the Kentucky Derby, which is 1 1/4 miles. It is followed by the third leg, the Belmont Stakes, which is 1 1/2 miles.
Since 1931, the order of Triple Crown races has the Kentucky Derby first, followed by the Preakness Stakes and then the Belmont Stakes. Prior to 1931, eleven times the Preakness was run before the Derby. On May 12, 1917 and again on May 13, 1922, the Preakness and the Derby were run on the same day.
Date of Inception: 1873. Two years before the Kentucky Derby, Pimlico introduced its new three-year-old stakes race.
Racetrack: Pimlico Racecourse, in Baltimore, Md.
Racetrack Location: 6 miles north of the Inner Harbor downtown area
Address: 5201 Park Heights Ave., Baltimore, MD 21215
Official Web Site: http://www.preakness.com/
Race Dates:
2008: May 17
2009: May 16
Racetrack Info: Pimlico opened in 1870. The Victorian building was destroyed by fire in June 1966. A replica of the old building cupola was built to stand in the winner circle (located in the infield). The Old Clubhouse stood for 96 years as a sentinel at the foot of the homestretch.
Tickets: For information, go to the tickets page on preakness.com.
Fan Experience: Pimlico is nestled in an older, non-touristy neighborhood and the races serve as a stand-alone event for visitors, who come and go while enjoying other sections of the city. Like the Derby, it’s an all-day event – expect to come early (8-9 a.m.) and stay late (7-8 p.m.).
Pimlico is not built for sightseeing and mingling, and is stretched to its functional limitations on Preakness Day. Come expecting great racing, but be patient with crowds.
The Preakness infield scene is considered even more debaucherous than the Derby by those who’ve braved both, and is almost exclusively patronized by twentysomethings.
Fashion: Like the Derby, it depends on the area of the facility. Those with reserved seats will be finely fashionable to business casual. Those in the infield, well, it’s unofficially “clothing optional.”
Drink: The Black-Eyed Susan is a mixture of vodka, light rum and Cointreau, along with pineapple juice and orange juice. Shake the ingredients, pour over crushed ice, garnish with lime.
Traditions: The Preakness’ version of “My Old Kentucky Home” is “Maryland, My Maryland,” the state song the old Baltimore Colts Marching Band pounds out (yes, they still exist).
The black-eyed Susan, the Maryland state flower, is nearly synonymous with The Preakness. The flower has yellow leaves and is black in the middle. After the race, the Preakness winner receives an arrangement consisting of about 2000 blooms sewn on to a mesh of black rubber and decorated with a variety of greens.
Later, the winning jockey’s silks colors are painted on the infield cupola to fly over Pimlico for the next year.
Other Events: Check out the racing celebrity bartenders during the week at the nearby Mt. Washington Tavern, and maybe glean a tip or two from the race’s jockeys and trainers.
The Preakness Celebration offers a weeklong events calendar complete with a parade.
Parking/Hotels: You’ll find a fair amount of on-site parking at Pimlico, but it’s truly best to avoid the congestion with a light rail trip/shuttle bus ride or metro subway/shuttle bus ride. Those services originate from parking lots at BWI Airport or Hunt Valley.
Many Preakness-goers stay 6 miles south of Pimlico in the downtown Inner Harbor hotels. Located 15 miles north of Pimlico, Hunt Valley offers several hotels out of the hustle-and-bustle of downtown. Hotels on nearby Reisterstown Road also are an option.
Nightlife Areas: Downtown Inner Harbor; Power Plant Live dining and entertainment complex is two blocks from harbor; also, Canton and Federal Hill areas downtown are filled with great local taverns.
Other Attractions: Inner Harbor, Camden Yards, Babe Ruth Museum and Fort McHenry all are mere miles from Pimlico in downtown Baltimore.
Restaurants: Bertha’s (734 S. Broadway) in Fells Point is a landmark seafood stop, as is old reliable McCormick & Schmick’s on Pier 5. Little Italy’s row of offerings including Sabatino’s (901 Fawn St.). Ruth’s Chris Steak House (600 Water St.) speaks for itself.
Cheap Eats: Lexington Market, a stone’s throw east of the Inner Harbor, offers great food from various local vendors and is a breakfast must. If cholesterol is not a concern, the fried chicken on-track at Pimlico may be the best at any racetrack in America.
Mine that Bird
Mine That Bird was proclaimed ready for the Preakness on Monday after a spirited early morning jog, while his trainer remained groggy from two nights of little sleep after a startling Kentucky Derby victory.
“The horse will be the judge, but as good as he looked this morning, we plan on being at the Preakness,” Bennie Woolley Jr. said.
Although Woolley has tried to make sure the horse’s routine has remained normal since the 50-1 shot’s win Saturday under Calvin Borel, it has been a far from normal period for the trainer in the black cowboy hat.
Woolley estimates he has totaled five hours of sleep in two nights. Every time he has tried to doze off, there seemed to be another interview request, visitors at the barn or time for Mine That Bird to be walked or fed.
Woolley said the horse will remain at Churchill Downs in Louisville at least until May 12 before shipping to Baltimore. He jogged a mile at Churchill on Monday morning and will have light jogs each of the next two days.
Woolley said there are no plans for the horse to have a full workout before the Preakness.
“I’ve never been to Baltimore, but it looks like I won’t be able to say that in a few days,” he said.
A Preakness trip wasn’t looking quite as likely on Sunday. Woolley said then there’s “no obligation” to go to the Preakness and added: “You’ve got to do what’s best for the horse and the horse has got to come first.”
Woolley said he still feels no obligation but acknowledged horse racing can always use a shot at the Triple Crown — something not accomplished since Affirmed in 1978. Should he win the Preakness, Mine That Bird must also take the June 6 Belmont to do that.
“The horse came back and he’s bouncing — feels good, doing good,” Woolley said. “This Triple Crown thing is good for racing. If you don’t have the Kentucky Derby winner, there’s no Triple Crown.”
Borel expressed confidence this could be the horse to do it, long shot or not. Mine That Bird won the Derby by 6¾ lengths — the largest since Assault in 1946. Borel said he’ll be more than happy to take a shot at history.
“He’s plenty of horse,” Borel said.
Co-owner Leonard Blach, a veterinarian, said he observed nothing in the horse Monday that would keep him out of the second leg in two weeks.
“We never ruled the Preakness out,” Blach said. “This horse had to let us know. We had to make sure he’s doing good. We’re not going to do anything to hurt this horse and this horse has to tell us he’s all right. We got the best vets and trainer, and I know a few things about horses. The way he tracked today, looks like he’s going.”
The last Derby winner to skip the Preakness was an injured Grindstone — Mine That Bird’s grandsire — in 1996. The last healthy Derby winner to miss it was Spend A Buck in 1985.
Other Derby horses expected to take on Mine That Bird in Baltimore are fourth-place finisher Papa Clem and possibly runner up Pioneer of the Nile, third-place Musket Man, Join in the Dance (seventh) and General Quarters (10th).
David Fawkes, trainer for Delta Jackpot winner Big Drama, said he also would be joining Mine That Bird at Pimlico. Withers winner Mr. Fantasy, Take the Points and Miner’s Escape also are possible.
“We are ready to roll,” Fawkes said. “He is the kind of horse where you can put him anywhere you want. He can sit off the lead and he has a huge turn of foot. When you push the gas pedal, he goes.”
Woolley was surprised by Mine That Bird’s Derby victory, and he says he doesn’t expect him to be the top choice for the Preakness either, considering the field.
“He’s not going to just jump up and be the favorite off one win,” Woolley said. “But I’ll bet he’s not 50-1.”
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