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BALTIMORE, The middle jewel of the Triple Crown
in set for Saturday, May 19, 2007 at historic Pimlico
Race Course.
In the spring of 1873, two years before the
inaugural Preakness Stakes, the folks at Pimlico
were busy working on a new three-year old stakes
race of their own. Pimlico, which since its opening
in 1870 had conducted all of its racing in the
fall, ran its first Spring Meet in the year of
1873, with the initial running of the Preakness
held on May 23. The Preakness was founded by then-Maryland
governor Oden Bowie. Governor Bowie's term had
actually ended in 1872, yet that did not prevent
him from naming the then- mile and a half race
in honor of the colt who won the Dinner Party Stakes
in 1870 on the occasion of Pimlico's opening. At
an 1868 Saratoga party hosted by a Milton Sanford,
Bowie guaranteed that Maryland would have a track
available for a race that was later dubbed the
Dinner Party Stakes and had been instantly promoted
by Bowie at the party when he offered $15,000 as
a purse--no small sum at the time.
The Maryland Jockey Club negotiated for the land
that became known as Pimlico later that year; the
new course opened as promised on October 25, 1870.
Sanford, who had gained his wealth by selling blankets
during the Civil war, went after the $15,000 with
a colt of his own named Preakness, who won over
all the horses of the race, including one owned
by the governor which came in last. Nevertheless,
it was Bowie who named the eventual second jewel
of the Triple Crown. (The Dinner Party Stakes,
later changed to the Early Times Dixie, is now
the eighth oldest stakes race in America and still
run annually at Pimlico.)
On May 23, 1873 the first edition of the Preakness
took place. Interestingly, the setting was familiar
to that of the inaugural Derby. The crowds made
it to the grounds by buggy carriage and omnibus,
although a projected horsecar line from Baltimore
and Pikesville was unfortunately terminated two
miles south of the track. Still, some fans did
arrive via the Northern Central Railroad which
brought spectators closer to the track--a walk
of only one uphill mile. The race itself claimed
seven contestants, with Survivor galloping to an
easy ten length victory, a margin of victory that
still stands as the largest in Preakness history.
After flourishing for almost two decades, the
Maryland Jockey Club ran into tough financial times
after the 1889 running. In 1890 the Preakness was
run at Morris Park in New York, and in 1891, 1892,
and 1893 it wasn't run at all. From 1894 to 1908
the Preakness was held at the Gravesend track in
Brooklyn, New York. Although the Maryland Jockey
Club held some steeplechase and trotting races
at Pimlico, the Preakness did not return to its
Baltimore home until 1909. It wasn't until 1948
that these fifteen "lost races" were
incorporated into the official race history, with
the 1890 running not added until the 1960s. Nevertheless,
ever since the May 12, 1909 Preakness, won by Effendi,
the Preakness has been held at Pimlico every year.
It didn't take long for the Preakness to grow into
a force in horse racing: in 1918 26 horses were
entered, forcing the race to be run in two divisions.
The next year, a colt named Sir Barton became the
first Triple Crown winner. Man O'War, who skipped
his one chance at the Derby, helped establish the
Preakness into a "true American classic" when
he romped in the 1920 edition. The place of the
Preakness Stakes in the Triple Crown and American
sport is firm, with the race garnering nearly a
half million people in attendance over the last
five years.
The Kentucky Derby has "My Old
Kentucky Home;" the Preakness Stakes has "Maryland,
My Maryland." The Kentucky Derby has the
blanket of roses; the Preakness Stakes has the
blanket of black-eyed susans. But one thing the
Preakness Stakes has that the Derby does not
is the famed and historic weather vane, a Preakness
tradition since 1909. Here, in the words of the
official Preakness site, is a description of
this tradition: "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. He applies the colors of
the victorious owner's silks on the jockey and
horse which are part of the weather vane atop
the infield structure." Back in 1909 a horse
and rider weather vane sat at the top of the
old Members' Clubhouse, which was constructed
at the opening of Pimlico in 1870. That building
was destroyed by fire in June 1966, and a replica
of the old building's cupola (a small structure
on top of a roof or building) was built to stand
in the Preakness winner's circle in the infield.
Originally the building had an arrow-shaped weather
vane, but that one was destroyed by lightning in
1909. To replace it, the Maryland Jockey Club "commissioned
an ornamental iron worker to forge a vane in the
form of a horse and a rider. It was christened
that spring by coating it with the colors of the
silks borne by Effendi, winner of the 1909 Preakness." When
the old Members' Clubhouse burned down the only
thing saved was the iron weather vane, which was
then put away for safekeeping at Pimlico as a memento.
Since 1988 Lawrence Jones, who lives in the Pimlico
neighborhood, has had the job of keeping the weather
vane up-to-date. Past weather vane painter Michael
Willinger had this to say about the famous contract
work: "It is just the thrill of being able
to participate in a big local and national event
like this. Let's face it: it's the only televised
sign painting job in the country." How true.
How The Preakness Stakes Was Named.
Like a lot of names throughout America, the name
Preakness is derived from Native American culture.
A northern New Jersey band of Indians called the
Minisi labeled their area Pra-qua-les, meaning "quail
woods." After some inventive respellings,
the name evolved into Preakness. One variation
of the name was Preckiness, used by General George
Washington to describe where his troops were stationed
during the 1776-77 winter. Milton Sanford, who
we saw earlier in connection with the Dinner Party
Stakes, called his farms (he had one in New Jersey
and one in Kentucky) Preakness. Oddly enough, his
New Jersey farm was located in the Indians' "quail
woods," and there remains today a Preakness,
New Jersey. Sanford, without much regard, purchased
a yearling that was bred in Kentucky's Woodburn
Farm, the eighth foal of a horse named Bay Leaf,
for $2,000. He named it Preakness. Needless to
say, it was this horse that as a three-year old
went on to win the Dinner Party Stakes at Pimlico's
inaugural in 1870. That was the horses only race
of 1870, although he did continue to race through
his eight-year old season, even winning races at
that age. In 1873, the Maryland Jockey Club honored
him by calling its newest stakes race "Preakness," while
the Dinner Party Stakes evolved into the present-day
Dixie Handicap. After his eighth year of racing
Sanford sent Preakness to England, where he was
eventually purchased by the Duke of Hamilton. Yet
like most of us, Preakness developed a temper in
old age and became tough to handle. But unlike
most of us, Preakness was shot and killed by his
owner the Duke of Hamilton, who apparently had
also grown a tad irritable. So, the legacy of Preakness
is twofold: one, he supplied the name for the second
jewel of the Triple Crown, and two, he touched
off a reform in English law which governed the
handling of animals. What a champion. |
