The Preakness Stakes is a classic 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). Like its preceeding Triple Crown race, the Preakness Stakes have been termed "The Run for the Black-Eyed Susans" because a horseshoe of black-eyed susans is traditionally placed around the winner's neck.
The Preakness Stakes 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. It is followed by the third leg, the Belmont Stakes. Order your Preakness Stakes Tickets online today!
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The Preakness Stakes were introduced during Pimlico's first-ever spring race meet in 1872, two years before the Kentucky Derby was run for the first time. 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, Wayne, New Jersey.
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.