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Preakness Stakes Horse Racing Facts

These are some interesting facts about the Preakness that we’ve gathered from articles, horse racing publications, and other sites over the years. Information you may find interesting.

2004 Preakness Day Attendance and Handle

Attendance 124,351
Total In-State $10,309,013
MD Live Out of State $77,549,865
On Preakness Stakes $59,462,123
Total Handle $87,858,878

Saddle Up

Two people have ridden and saddled Preakness winners . Louis J . Schaefer won the 1929 Preakness aboard Dr . Freeland and in 1939, ten years later saddled Challedon to victory .
John Longden duplicated the feat, winning the 1943 Preakness astride Count Fleet and saddling Majestic Prince, the victor in 1969 .

Where the Winners Came From

In all, 87 winners of the Preakness (130 races) have been bred in Kentucky . Next in line is Maryland with eight winners . Other winning horses were bred in Florida, Pennsylvania and Virginia, (six each), New Jersey and California (four each), New York (three), Tennessee ( two) Texas and Ohio (one each), while Canada and the United Kingdom have one winner each .

Perfection

Only two Triple Crown winners, War Admiral (1937) and Count Fleet (1943) went undefeated during their 3-yearold seasons .

The Distance

The Preakness has been staged at seven different distances since its start in 1873:
1-1/2 miles—1873 to 1888 & 1890
1-1/4 miles—1889
1-1/16 miles—1894 to 1900 & 1908
1 mile, 70 yards—1901 to 1907
1 mile—1909 and 1910
1-1/8 miles—1911 to 1924
1-3/16 miles—1925 to present

It Runs in the Family

Nine Preakness winners have sired Preakness winners . They are: Bold Ruler (Secretariat); Bold Venture (Assault); Gallant Fox ( Omaha); Man o’ War (War Admiral); Polynesian (Native Dancer); Citation (Fabius); Native Dancer (Kauai King), Secretariat (Risen Star) and Summer Squall (Charismatic) .

All But One (Day)

Since 1931, the Preakness has been run on Saturday afternoon, although this was not always so . The Preakness has been staged on every day except Sunday . The classic has been run on Tuesday, 14 times; Friday, 13; Monday, 6; Wednesday, 5; and Thursday, 4 .

Which Comes First

On eleven occasions, the Preakness was run prior to the Derby, and twice, 1917 and 1922, both were on the same day . In 1890, the Preakness and Belmont Stakes were run on the same card at Morris Park . On eleven different occasions, the Belmont was run prior to the Preakness . Since 1931, the current order of Kentucky Derby-Preakness Stakes-Belmont Stakes has remaied in place . In a challenging test of endurance, in 1919, Sir Barton, the first Triple Crown winner, captured the Kentucky Derby on May 10 and the reakness 4 days later on May 14 .