It is the first leg of the US Triple Crown and is followed by the Preakness Stakes, then the Belmont Stakes.

Unlike the Preakness and Belmont Stakes, which took hiatuses in 1891-1893 and 1911-1912 respectively, the Kentucky Derby has been run every consecutive year since 1875.

The attendance at the Kentucky Derby ranks first in North America and usually surpasses the attendance of all other stakes races including the Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes and the Breeders ' Cup.

Thoroughbred owners began sending their successful Derby horses to compete a few weeks later in the Preakness Stakes at the Pimlico Race Course, in Baltimore, Maryland, followed by the Belmont Stakes in Elmont, New York.

Since 1931, the order of Triple Crown races has been the Kentucky Derby first, followed by the Preakness Stakes and then the Belmont Stakes.

On eleven occasions the Belmont Stakes was run before the Preakness Stakes.

* The Preakness Stakes is run, second jewel in the triple crown of horse racing.

* Survivor ( horse ), a racehorse that won the first Preakness Stakes in 1873

** The Preakness Stakes horse race is run for the first time in Baltimore, Maryland.

# Preakness Stakes, run over the dirt track at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland ;

The Preakness Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland.

) The 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.

Former 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 Stables in Preakness, Wayne Township, New Jersey, who won the Dinner Party Stakes on the day Pimlico opened ( October 25, 1870 ).

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.

In 1890 Morris Park Racecourse in the Bronx, New York hosted the Preakness Stakes after which there was no race run for three years.

Since 1932, the order of Triple Crown races has the Kentucky Derby first, followed by the Preakness Stakes and then the Belmont Stakes.

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 Preakness has been run at seven different distances:

Since 1931, the order of Triple Crown races has been the Kentucky Derby first, followed by the Preakness Stakes, and then the Belmont Stakes.

He is tied with Bill Hartack for most Derby wins with five, and has the most wins in the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes with six.

* Every horse that has ever participated in a classic: Kentucky Derby, Preakness, or Belmont

The Preakness Stakes in Baltimore, Maryland has been termed " The Run for the Black-Eyed Susans " because a blanket of chrysanthemums, decorated to look like Black-eyed Susans is traditionally placed around the winner's neck.

Stevens has been in the winner's circle at the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes three times, and twice at the Preakness Stakes.

* Every horse that has ever participated in a classic: Kentucky Derby, Preakness, or Belmont

He has one Belmont Stakes win with Point Given, who also won the Preakness Stakes in 2001.

Haskin said, " All this confusion could have been avoided if all involved had known how Funny Cide was going to run in the Preakness.

Historically, the names ‘ Orange ’ and ‘ Preakness ’ have only been applied to specific sections of these ridges.

Even the trio of Preakness, Belmont, and Travers have only been won by six horses, compared to the eleven who have won the modern Triple Crown of Preakness, Belmont, and Kentucky Derby.

Owned and bred by Marylou Whitney of Whitney family racing fame, Birdstone had won the Champagne Stakes, a leading race for two-year-olds, at Belmont Park in 2003, but had not been a factor in the first two Triple Crown races ( finishing eighth in the Kentucky Derby and skipping the Preakness Stakes ) and was a 36-1 longshot when he upset the overwhelmingly favored Smarty Jones, taking the lead in the final furlong ( 201 m ) in the fastest Belmont since the advent of modern electronic timing ( 2002 was the first year times were kept to hundredths ).

Two weeks later in the Preakness Stakes, Risen Star won the " Run for the Black Eyed-Susans " as he turned the table on his filly rival, winning by 1 lengths over Brian's Time, Winning Colors, and local favorite Private Terms.

Two years before the Preakness was run for the first time, Pimlico introduced its new stakes race for three-year-olds, the Preakness, during its first-ever spring race meet in 1873.

Just after the horses for the Preakness are called to the post, the audience is invited to sing " Maryland, My Maryland ", the official state song of Maryland.

Although the Preakness is sometimes referred to as " the race for the black-eyed Susans ", no black-eyed Susan is ever used.

In 1948, the Preakness was televised for the first time by CBS.

The winning horse is draped with a blanket of white carnations after the race, in similar fashion to the blanket of roses and black-eyed susans for the Derby and Preakness, respectively.

As a result of this NBC, who was the rights holder for all three events, was only able to keep its broadcast rights to the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes.

The attendance of the Kentucky Oaks typically only trails the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, for more information see American Thoroughbred Racing top Attended Events.

The Maryland Jockey Club, which managed the Pimlico racetrack and is responsible for maintaining Preakness records, discarded both the electronic and Daily Racing Form times and recognized 1: 54 as the official time.

Only four horses competed against Secretariat for the June 9, 1973, running of the Belmont Stakes, including Sham, who had finished second in both the Derby and Preakness, along with three other horses thought to have little chance by the bettors: Twice A Prince, My Gallant, and Private Smiles.

Together, the Derby ; the Preakness Stakes, held two weeks later at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland ; and the Belmont Stakes, held three weeks after the Preakness at Belmont Park on Long Island, form the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing for three-year-olds.

* Tim Tam, who had won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, fractured a sesamoid bone and lost his chance for the Triple Crown when he hobbled across the finish line in second place at the Belmont Stakes.

In an article published in March 2007, one read: " Looking back, Tagg wonders if Funny Cide's 9¾-length victory in the Preakness and his overly fast workout the week before the Belmont weren't the results of an on-edge horse who had little left for the final leg of the Triple Crown.

In easily winning the 1⅛-mile Preakness Stakes, Man o ' War set a new Pimlico track record of 1: 38-3 / 5 for a mile, then was eased up for the final eighth of a mile to finish in a time of 1: 51-3 / 5.

Girard leaves for the Mediterranean to obtain a confession from Vice Admiral Farley C. Barnswell, the 6th Fleet commander stationed on the USS Kitty Hawk, who knows of the plot but decides not to actively support or oppose it ( responding through a code involving the Preakness Stakes horse race ).