The Preakness: An Odder History Than You Might Imagine

The Preakness is named after Preakness, a colt by Lexington, who was owned by Milton Holbrook Sanford and who was the winner of the inaugural Dinner Party Stakes. Sanford owned Preakness Stables in Preakness, NJ, as well as a stud farm in Kentucky of the same name; apparently he was more than a little fond of the word. The Dinner Party Stakes was itself named after (appropriately enough) a dinner party hosted by Sanford in 1868. The race, first run in 1870, was to be for 3-year-old colts and fillies, over a distance of 2 miles. Presumably a fair amount of alcohol was consumed at this Petronian dinner, for the Governor of Maryland declared that he would have a track built to host this great race, which would offer a $15,000 purse - and so Pimlico was born. On the day of the Dinner Party Stakes, Preakness himself was one of only two colts in the seven-horse field, and it was his first start (and only start for the year). A $2000 yearling purchase (the top price in that year's 1868 Woodburn sale), Preakness would continue to race through his 8-year-old season and eventually retired to stud in England. After his purchase by the Duke of Hamilton, however, things got a bit peculiar. Preakness apparently became very difficult to handle (at least for his owner) and the Duke shot and killed him after an 'incident' in his stall. An outraged British public demanded, and received, much stricter laws governing the treatment of racehorses and other animals. Preakness had some notable offspring; his son Fiddler won the Alexandra Plate, whose entry conditions at that time are worth considering (and if you've never looked through the New York Times Archives, you should): The Alexandra Plate, 1000 sovereigns, added to a sweepstakes of 25 sovereigns each, 15 forfeit, for 4-year-olds, to carry 9 stone; 5, 9 stone 6 pounds; 6 and aged, 9 stone 7 pounds; mares and geldings allowed 4 pounds; winners of any sweepstakes or price worth 2,000 sovereigns in any country in 1881 or 1882, or the Ascot, Goodwood, or Doncaster Cups or Alexandra Plate in 1881 or 1882, to carry 5 pounds extra; maiden 4-year olds at the time of starting allowed 7 pounds, 5 and upward, 10 pounds; pure Barbs and Arabians allowed 28 pounds, and no other allowance; the second horse to receive 200 sovereigns out of the stakes and the third horse to save his stake; to start at the new mile post and go once around; about three miles, 21 subscribers. It certainly makes the graded stakes shuffle for the Derby look simple and orderly. But back to the origins of the Preakness as a race; the Dinner Party morphed into the Dixie (and so it remains today) - now America's 8th oldest stakes race. In 1873, Pimlico created a new stakes race for 3-year-olds to be run over a mile and a half in honor of Preakness, and so the second jewel of the Triple Crown came into existence (although it would not be so known until the 1930s). The race was not always run at Pimlico, however - between 1890 and 1909, it was run at Morris Park and Gravesend in New York. The distance changed not infrequently as well - it only settled on its current 1 3/16 in 1925, and it has been as short as a mile and as long as its original 1 1/2 at various points in its history. Today, there's even an indie band called The Preakness; I would suggest that the story of their namesake would make a great twee-pop ballad.