The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race traditionally held annually on the third Saturday in May at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. The Preakness Stakes is a Grade I race run over a distance of on dirt. Colts and geldings carry ; fillies .Preakness 148 (MAY 2023). Preakness Weekend 2023 - May 19–20. Pimlico Race Course, 5201 Park Heights Ave., Baltimore, MD 21215 USA. It is the second jewel (or leg)Terrell, Katherine - ESPN Staff Writer (May 19, 2023). 2023 Preakness: Date, time, odds, jockeys, betting tips. ESPN. of the Triple Crown, held three weeks and one day after the Kentucky Derby and two weeks before the Belmont Stakes.
First run in 1873, the Preakness Stakes was named by Maryland governor Oden Bowie after the colt who won the first Dinner Party Stakes at Pimlico. Annual "Preakness Weekend" races include both the Saturday Preakness StakesSchwartz, Tim, and Walker, Childs (May 19, 2023). 2023 Preakness: Here’s what to know, including post time, who’s racing, draws and odds, Preakness LIVE information and more. Baltimore Sun. and a Grade II race on Friday for fillies only named the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes.Preakness 148 (MAY 2023). Black-Eyed Susan - May 19, Preakness Weekend 2023 - May 19–20. Pimlico Race Course, 5201 Park Heights Ave., Baltimore, MD 21215 USA. Attendance at the Preakness Stakes ranks second in North America among equestrian events, surpassed only by the Kentucky Derby.
The 151st running of the Preakness Stakes was held on Saturday, May 16, 2026, with Napoleon Solo winning the race. It was moved to Laurel Park amid Pimlico's reconstruction. The 152nd running will be held on a Sunday — May 23, 2027 — in part to accommodate that year's Black-Eyed Susan Stakes being run on the Saturday instead of the Friday.
History 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 spring race meet in 1873. Then Maryland governor Oden Bowie named the then mile and one-half (2.41 km) race in honor of the colt Preakness from Milton Holbrook Sanford's Preakness Stud in Preakness, Wayne Township, New Jersey, who won the Dinner Party Stakes on the day Pimlico opened (October 25, 1870). The New Jersey name was said to have come from the Native American name Pra-qua-les ("Quail Woods") for the area. After Preakness won the Dinner Party Stakes, his jockey, Billy Hayward, untied a silk bag of gold coins that hung from a wire stretched across the track from the judges' stand. This was the supposed way that the "wire" at the finish line was introduced and how the awarding of "purse" money came to be. In reality, the term "purse", meaning prize money, had been in use for well over a century.
The first Preakness, held on May 27, 1873, drew seven starters. John Chamberlain's three-year-old, Survivor, collected the $2,050 winning purse by galloping home easily by 10 lengths. This was the largest margin of victory until 2004, when Smarty Jones won by 11 1/2 lengths.
In 1890, Morris Park Racecourse in The Bronx, New York, hosted the Preakness Stakes. This race was run under handicap conditions, and the age restriction was lifted. The race was won by a five-year-old horse named Montague. After 1890, there was no race run for three years.Sowers, Richard B. The Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont: A Comprehensive History For the 15 years from 1894 through 1908, the race was held at Gravesend Race Track on Coney Island, New York. In 1909 it returned to Pimlico.
Seven editions of the Preakness Stakes have been run under handicap conditions, in which more accomplished or favored horses are assigned to carry heavier weight. It was first run under these conditions in 1890 and again in the years 1910–1915. During these years, the race was known as the Preakness Handicap.
In March 2009 Magna Entertainment Corp., which owns Pimlico, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy thus throwing open the possibility the Stakes could move again. On April 13, 2009, the Maryland Legislature approved a plan to buy the Stakes and the Pimlico course if Magna Entertainment could not find a buyer.
Attendance at the Preakness Stakes ranks second in North America and usually surpasses the attendance of all other stakes races including the Belmont Stakes, the Breeders' Cup and the Kentucky Oaks. The attendance of the Preakness Stakes typically only trails the Kentucky Derby. For more information see American thoroughbred racing top attended events.
In February 2017, the Maryland Stadium Authority released the first phase of a study saying that Pimlico needed $250 million in renovations. As of May of that year, no one showed interest in financing the work. The Stronach Group, owner of Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park, was only interested in moving the Preakness Stakes to Laurel Park unless someone else financed work on Pimlico.
In October 2019, The Stronach Group reached an agreement in principle with the city of Baltimore and groups representing Maryland horsemen that would permanently keep the Preakness at Pimlico. As part of the agreement, Pimlico's grandstand would be demolished and replaced with a smaller structure, and temporary seating would be added to handle the attendance during Preakness week. The Racing and Community Development Act, approved by the Maryland state legislature in May 2020, allows the Maryland Stadium Authority to issue $375 million in bonds for the renovation of both Stronach Group tracks.
The 145th running of the Preakness Stakes was held on Saturday, October 3, 2020, a delay resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak earlier in the year, and setting the year's contest four weeks after the also-delayed Kentucky Derby. It was held without spectators for health reasons because of the outbreak.
In April 2024, the Maryland General Assembly approved a bill that would consolidate Maryland thoroughbred racing at Pimlico and provide for the reconstruction of the Pimlico facility. As part of the initiative, a state board approved a $14.3 million contract to begin demolishing and redeveloping the outdated Pimlico Race Course. As a result of the planned reconstruction of the Pimlico grandstand, the Preakness Stakes will be temporarily relocated to Laurel Park in 2026, with a return to Pimlico scheduled for 2027.
In January 2025 management of thoroughbred racing in Maryland changed from the Stronach Group to the newly-formed, state-owned Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority (MTROA). The Stronach Group retained intellectual ownership of the Preakness, for which the MTROA pays an annual licensing fee.
In April 2026, Churchill Downs Incorporated (whose Churchill Downs property is home to the Kentucky Derby) announced that they had acquired the intellectual rights to the Preakness Stakes and Black-Eyed Susan Stakes from The Stronach Group for $85 million. Following the announcement of the deal, the Maryland Jockey Club (now a non-profit entity of the MTROA) announced that they would retain operational control, licensing and media rights to the race. In June 2026 the state of Maryland exercised its right of first refusal under state law, matching Churchill Downs' $85 million offer and giving the state the right to use the Preakness and Black-Eyed Susan name and branding.
Evolution of the Triple Crown series 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 miles, or furlongs (1.88 km), compared to the Kentucky Derby, which is miles / 10 furlongs (2 km). It is followed by the third leg, the Belmont Stakes, which is miles / 12 furlongs (2.4 km).
Since 1932, the order of Triple Crown races has the Kentucky Derby first, followed by the Preakness Stakes and then the Belmont Stakes. Prior to 1932, the Preakness was run before the Derby eleven times. On May 12, 1917, and again on May 13, 1922, the Preakness and the Derby were run on the same day.Turf'n'Sport , Retrieved on May 4, 2009.
Until 2027, the Preakness was run on the third Saturday in May, two weeks after the Kentucky Derby, and three weeks before the Belmont Stakes. Consequently, the race was run no earlier than May 15, and no later than May 21. One exception was 2020, as that race was run in early October due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On August 5, 2026, officials announced that the date of the Preakness would be moved to the fourth Sunday in May, three weeks after the Kentucky Derby and two weeks before the Belmont Stakes. The date was moved to incentivize trainers who run horses in the Derby to also run their horses in the Preakness, especially after the formation of the Thoroughbred Championship Series which does not include the Preakness on its schedule.
Traditions
Traditionally, just after the horses for the Preakness were called to the post, the audience was invited to sing the third verse of "Maryland, My Maryland", the then-official state song of Maryland. For many years, the Baltimore Colts' Marching Band would lead the song from the infield; in later years, it was sung by the United States Naval Academy Glee Club. Use of the song was discontinued as of the 2020 edition of the race—the song "which celebrates the Confederacy, is considered by some to be racist." (The song lost its status as state song the following year.)
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. The colors of the victorious owner's silks are applied on the jockey and horse that are part of the weather vane atop the infield structure. The practice began in 1909 when a horse and rider weather vane sat atop 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.
A blanket of yellow flowers daubed with black lacquer to recreate the appearance of a black-eyed SusanHuman Flower Project , Retrieved on May 4, 2009. is 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.
Winning the race In 1917, the first Woodlawn Vase was awarded to the Preakness winner, who was not allowed to keep it. Eventually, a half-size reproduction of the trophy was given to winners to keep permanently. The original trophy is kept at the Baltimore Museum of Art and brought to the race each year under guard, for the winner's presentation ceremony.
In 1940, it was proposed to drape the winning horse in a garland of the Maryland State flower, Rudbeckia hirta, commonly called black-eyed Susans. This posed a problem, as the race is run nearly two months before the flowers come into bloom in late June or July. At first, yellow Viking daisies were painted to resemble black-eyed Susans. Painted flowers have been discontinued since the first decade of the current millennium and Viking Poms, a member of the chrysanthemum family, are now used.Reimer, Susan "Neither Susans nor daisies" The Baltimore Sun, Friday, May 16, 2014 Although the Preakness is sometimes referred to as "the race for the black-eyed Susans", no black-eyed Susan is ever used.David Klatt, The Secret Behind the Preakness' Black-Eyed Susan Blanket May 14, 2009.The Black-Eyed Susan Blanket . Accessed 2009.05.14.
In 1918, 26 horses entered the race, and it was run in two divisions, providing for two winners that year. Currently, the race is limited to 14 horses.