Preakness History
History - Important Facts - Winners - Glossary
On a late summer evening in 1868, an agreement among sportsmen to stage a special race to commemorate a memorable occasion became the foundation for the middle jewel of racing's Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes.
Governor Bowie requested that the Dinner Party Stakes be run in Maryland, and pledged to build a new racetrack to host it. Hence, the idea for Pimlico Race Course was born and in 1870 the inaugural Dinner Party Stakes was run on Pimlico's opening. Won by Sanford's Preakness, one of only two male entrants in the seven horse field, the massive bay colt was a first time starter.
Two years before the Kentucky Derby would appear, Pimlico was busy introducing its new stakes race for three-year olds, the Preakness, during its first-ever spring race meet in 1873. Governor Bowie had named the mile and one-half race in honor of Dinner Party Stakes - winner, Preakness.
The first Preakness drew seven starters, but it was John Chamberlain's three-year old, Survivor, who galloped home easily by ten lengths to a purse of $2,050 to this day, the largest Preakness margin of victory. The new Preakness, off to a great start, prospered for the next 17 years.
The early Preakness Stakes attracted quality horses and good crowds; however, in 1889, due to changes in the racing industry, the Preakness and Pimlico galloped to a halt. In 1890, the Preakness was run at Morris Park in New York. The Maryland Jockey Club continued to be involved in racing by presenting some steeplechasing and even trotting races at Pimlico, but the Preakness did not return home to Pimlico until 1909.
During this interval, the Preakness was run for 15 years at the Gravesend track in Brooklyn, New York. These 15 so-called "lost" Preaknesses were officially enrolled in the race history of the classic in 1948; the 1890 Preakness was added in the 1960's.
Since 1909, the Preakness has run without a break each year at Pimlico, steadily growing in popularity and purse value. It was once said that having the Preakness in Baltimore is like being able to schedule the World Series or Super Bowl every year. The Preakness Stakes has remained throughout history a true test of a horse's ability and class.
Where does the name Preakness come from?
It all started with the Minisi, a northern New Jersey tribe of Native Americans. They called their area Pra-qua-les, meaning quail woods. After a series of spellings the name eventually evolved into Preakness.
One of its variations was Preckiness, used by General George Washington to describe the area where his troops were quartered in the winter of 1776-77. Nearly a century later, Milton H. Sanford, a thoroughbred owner, became attracted to the name. He called his farms, one in New Jersey and another in Kentucky, Preakness. His Jersey farm was located in the Indians' "quail woods." Today, there remains a Preakness, N.J.
When he bought a yearling sired by Lexington and foaled by Bay Leaf from A. J. Alexander, he named the colt (bred in Kentucky at Woodburn Farm) Preakness, unaware that he was contributing to turf immortality. Preakness, the eighth foal of Bay Leaf, cost Sanford $2,000.
In his triumph, Preakness was ridden by English jockey Billy Hayward, who supplied the name for one of Pimlico's present adjoining streets. Three years later, the Maryland Jockey Club honored him by calling its newest stakes race "Preakness".
Preakness continued to race through his eight-year-old season in America. He won the Baltimore Cup, carrying 131 pounds at age eight and also finished in a deadheat with Springbok in the 1875 Saratoga Cup at 2-1/4 miles.
Later that year, Sanford sent Preakness to England. He became one of the first American horses to be given genuine recognition by the British. Eventually the Duke of Hamilton purchased Preakness from Sanford for breeding.