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The Preakness Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race 1-3/16 mile (1.91 km) thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old horses, held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds (57 kg); fillies 121 lb (55 kg). The Preakness Stakes has been termed "The Run for the Black-Eyed Susans" because a blanket of Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta, the state flower of Maryland) is traditionally placed around the winner's neck. 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. - Source: Wikipedia
Horse Racing: 138th Preakness Stakes Exhibit: Portraits by Boris Chaliapin Festival: Dragon Boat Festival Lecture: Khaled Hosseini Fundraiser: Ryan Zimmerman's Night at the Park
HORSE RACING: Secretariat film screening and benefit COCKTAILS: D.C. toasts the Black Mixology Club HORTICULTURE: World Bonsai Day CONCERT: Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival GALA: ZooFari
Trainer Graham Motion has been there before, making the impossibly tough choice not to run a horse dealing with an injury. It was "devastating" for him to hear of I'll Have Another being scratched from the Belmont Stakes with a tendon injury that robbed fans of a Triple Crown bid.
It wasn't the send-off anyone wanted for I'll Have Another. Led in circles around the paddock and then to the winner's circle at Belmont Park, the retired champion was cheered at every turn. This was a ceremony and one final chance to pay tribute to the horse who captured the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and was scratched from the Belmont Stakes with tendonitis in his left front leg.
The world was primed to see I'll Have Another turn the corner at Belmont Park on Saturday evening with the Triple Crown on the line. But as the other horses in the Belmont Stakes make that run, the colt who captured the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes will not be with them.
No one quite knows how fast the Belmont Stakes will be, but Paynter and Unstoppable U figure to be on the lead, at least in the early stages. I'll Have Another shouldn't be too far behind.
There's nothing in sports quite like the roar and electricity as horses turn for home in the Belmont Stakes with a Triple Crown on the line.
A drive from Veracruz, Mexico, to Belmont Park would take almost two full days and cover 1,992 miles. Throw in a detour to tiny Hastings Park in Vancouver and stops at race courses in California, and you get an idea of what Mario Gutierrez has gone through since 2006.
Capturing the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes brought plenty spoils of victory for Doug O'Neill, the trainer of I'll Have Another. He got to throw out first pitches, attend the Stanley Cup Final and enjoy the spotlight.
With an opportunity gone in the Kentucky Derby, Saturday's Preakness Stakes was another chance for Bodemeister to prove he could be one of the all-time greats. All he had to do, trainer Bob Baffert said, was run "his race."
Kent Desormeaux got his start as a renowned jockey in Maryland in the late 1980s, so he seemed the perfect fit for local horse Tiger Walk in Saturday's Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course.
With five Preakness Stakes victories in the past 32 years, D. Wayne Lukas has a lot of things figured out.
I'll Have Another may be getting all the attention as the Kentucky Derby winner, but when it comes to Saturday's Preakness Stakes, everyone's focused on Bodemeister.
Doug O'Neill is all smiles this week. Throwing out the first pitch at Camden Yards, meeting Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh at a team practice and stopping to take photos, the Kentucky Derby-winning trainer is loving every second of his experience.
One day a year, the sports world is focused on the state of Maryland. Like it does every May, this Saturday's Preakness Stakes brings eyeballs to Baltimore in the form of more than 100,000 in the stands and the infield and millions on television.
