The crowds on the infield are massive and rowdy. Basically its a huge drinkfest! Add gambling to that and you have yourself a paaaartay! Ladies everywhere are sporting fancy hats, and the monied mingle with the not so monied!
The Preakness Stakes
The Preakness Stakes was first run in 1873 at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It’s rich history started at the behest of Maryland’s Horseman-Governor Oden Bowie who organized the inaugural Preakness Stakes in honor of Pimlico’s first-ever spring racing meet. Pimlico Race Course had opened just three years earlier in 1870 and the horse that won the opening day’s feature race, The Dinner Party Stakes (now known as the Dixie Handicap or Dixie), was a horse named Preakness. That horse, derided as a “cart horse” before the running, went on become one of the first horses exported from American to Britain for breeding purposes, an amazing turn of events that shows how far American breeding programs had matured from their originally British roots.
The Dinner Party Stakes, which provided the avenue for the immortality of Preakness, has an interesting history of it’s own. The original race was proposed in 1868 at a sophisticated dinner party hosted by Milton H. Sanford, a wealthy man due to interests in blanket sales during the Civil War. Included among the guests were wealthy horsemen including John Hunter of New York and Governor Bowie of Maryland. The race was to be a two-miler for three-year-olds with a purse of $15,000, the then-staggering amount was proposed by Gov. Bowie, who used the occasion to launch the building of Pimlico Race Course so the race, to be dubbed The Dinner Party Stakes, could be run in Maryland.
The opening day at Pimlico in 1870 started many traditions that still endure in modern-era racing. The running of The Dinner Party Stakes not only produced recognition for the great horse Preakness, which would be forever immortalized by the second jewel of the Triple Crown being run in his honor every Spring, it also is said to have started the use of the “wire”, as in “the race came down to the wire” and the use of the term “the purse” to refer to the prize money awarded to winning horses and their owners, trainers, and jockeys. According to accounts at the time a string was pulled taut across the track somewhere past the finish line with a silken bag tied so as to dangle above the center of the track at horse-head level. The bag was filled with gold coins and the winning jockey had the privilege of retrieving the “purse” as reward for a job well done.
The name Preakness actually derives from an Indian word, Pra-qua-les, meaning “quail woods”. It was in these New Jersey woods that George Washington and his troops wintered in 1776-77, referred to in the general’s journal as “Preckiness”. Future spellings eventually came to the accepted name Preakness we use today. The “quail woods” became the home of a thoroughbred farm owned by Milton Sanford, a guest at the original dinner party. Another of Sanford’s farms, in Kentucky, was the actual birthplace of the horse Preakness.
The first Preakness Stakes in 1873 was watched by a crowd of 12,000 who saw Survivor win the field of seven by 10 lengths over the 1-1/2 mile course for a purse of $2,050. The Preakness Stakes was run seventeen years in a row at Pimlico before financial difficulties forced the race to be run in 1890 at Morris Park in New York and then for 15 years, of and on, at Gravesend track in Brooklyn, New York.
The Preakness Stakes returned home to Pimlico Race Course in 1909. The return home prompted the traditions of the singing of “Maryland My Maryland” before the race and “the painting of the colors” where the winning stable’s colors are painted atop the course’s symbolic weather vane. The 1909 race was 1 mile. That was increased to 1-1/8 miles in 1911 and then updated to the current 1-3/16 miles distance in 1925.
The Preakness Stakes is said to be more about the horses than the crowd. In reference to the pageantry involved with the Kentucky Derby the great poet Ogden Nash, who called Baltimore home, wrote, “The Derby is a race of aristocratic sleekness, for horses of birth to prove their worth to run in the Preakness”. This may be true from the athletic point of view as Pimlico track features a shorter run with tighter turns and longer straightaways, providing exciting runs for the wire every year. Regardless, The Preakness has plenty of pageantry of its own. Weather vanes are symbolically painted and Lord Baltimore’s ancient colors of black and yellow, in the form of Maryland’s state flower, the Black-eyed Susan, adorn the victory blanket worn by the winner of this second jewel in thoroughbred horse racing’s Triple Crown. The City of Baltimore faithfully keeps it’s share of racing history in the limelight and every Spring the state’s history is proudly put on display with the running of The Preakness Stakes.
Maryland Crab Cakes
1 lb. Crab meat (preferably back-fin)
1/4 c. Mayonnaise
2 T. Parsley, minced
1/2 t. Salt
1/2 c. Soft bread crumbs
2 Eggs, beaten
5 drops Tabasco sauce
fine cracker crumbs
1 stick Butter (can substitute margarine or oil)
Optional for those who prefer more zing: 1 T. horseradish
Combine all ingredients except crumbs and butter and mix together lightly. Form into desired size cakes but do not pack firmly then pat lightly with cracker crumbs. Chill for an hour so they are easier to handle.
Heat butter in a large skillet and fry cakes until golden brown on all sides. Drain on paper towels and serve immediately.
Black-Eyed Susan
Traditional drink of the Preakness
2 oz. Grand Marnier
1/2 oz. White Creme de Menthe
1/2 oz. Brandy
Crushed ice
Pour liquors over crushed ice in a shaker, shake well and pour into a glass.
Alternate recipe:
1 oz vodka
1 oz Baccardi
3/4 oz triple sec
Lemon wedge
Pineapple Juice
Orange slice
Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense starts to stir in his stall this morning in stable E, a barn reserved for horses running in the Preakness.
Barbaro breaks from the gate during a false start of the 131st running of the Preakness Stakes.
Traditions of the Preakness Stakes
May 18, 2002
Date of Inception Two years before the Kentucky Derby, Pimlico introduced its new three-year-old stakes race, the Preakness, in the Spring of 1873.
Flowers Black-eyed Susan:
The black-eyed Susan is the Maryland state flower. It has yellow leaves and it is black in the middle. The arrangement for the Preakness winner consists of about 2000 blooms sewn on to a mesh of black rubber and decorated with a variety of greens.
Slogan THE MIDDLE JEWEL OF THE TRIPLE CROWN:
Preakness loyalists argue that this race is the most exciting of the three races.
Theme Song "Maryland, My Maryland"
Fashion Spring Finery:
There is a casual dress code at the Preakness, but this was not the case during the days of the Maryland Jockey Club. Men wore business suits or tweed sports coats and ladies impeccably costumed up to their hats. The height of fashion attire was always assumed.
Beverages Black-eyed Susan:
This beverage is named after the filly race held the day before the Preakness. The drink contains two lemons, one orange, a half a teaspoon of sugar, and one shot of bourbon. After shaking the ingredients, pour over crushed ice.
Color Painting The Weathervane:
Shortly after the horses cross the finish line, Preakness maintains an annual tradition. A painter climbs a ladder, with paints of all colors, to the top of a replica of the Old Clubhouse cupola. He applies the colors of the victorious owner's silks on the weather vane atop the infield structure. The practice started in 1909 at Pimlico when a horse and rider weather vane sat at the top of the old Members Clubhouse, constructed in 1870.
Parties Preakness Celebration:
Preakness Celebration is a week long party including marching bands, whimsical floats, large helium balloon characters, hot air balloons, and fireworks. The Preakness infield is the spot for wild race day celebrations.
How It Was Named Preakness:
It all started with the Indians, a northern New Jersey band known as the Minisi. They called their area Pra-qua-les, meaning quail woods. After a series of spellings the name eventually evolved into Preakness. The name of the first stakes Pimlico winner in 1870 was Preakness.
Special Tradition Alibi Breakfast:
Five hundred or more have breakfast at Pimlico on the Friday morning before the Preakness. This tradition started in the 1920's and seems to grow larger every year. The table founded in the Old Clubhouse is set up early in the morning while sr. trainers, racing officials, and other guests drop by during training hours. They have coffee and a snack and swap racing stories. Many tales involved details of losing bets, hence the name Alibi Table.
The Track Pimlico Track:
Pimlico opened in 1870. The Victorian building was destroyed by fire in June of 1966. A replica of the old building cupola was built to stand in the winner circle (located in the infield.) The Old Clubhouse stood for 96 years as a sentinel at the foot of the homestretch.
Trophy The Woodlawn Vase:
141 years old and annually presented to the Preakness winner, this trophy has a colorful history. In 1983, the silver was assessed for $1 million, easily the most valuable trophy in American sports. The Woodlawn Vase, created by Tiffany and Co., is 34 inches in height and weighs 20 pounds and 12 ounces.
This rather gorgeous, romantic fellow wisked me away early Saturday Afternoon for a poker getaway weekend in Atlantic City! Does this man love me???? I played a cash table for about 6 hours Saturday Night, and made an extra hundred bucks. Then I walked the boardwalk with the man I married 17 years ago, had a bite to eat, and fell asleep in his arms. Blissful!
Sunday Morning I woke up, found out there was no Triple Crown Hopeful, and played in a tourney. I placed 24th out of 110 folks. This tourney was a learning experience for me, as I made many errors in judgement and did not play my usual very tight game. But still we did not arrive home until late sunday night, rested, and newly in love. Is that not the coolest thing? Seventeen years of marriage, countless big issues with our kids, and still we have a renewable, real love!!!!
Keep on Preachin' Ya'all will turn the page! Sorry, but I am refreshed of spirit! Sometimes all it takes is 24 hours away from your real life! Take note Gentlemen!
Huey, Dewey and Louie
Donald's nephews.
Bella , Long live Newey Newey and Newey! The Spagettios thing??????
The Theme song used to be "Uh Oh Spagettios" my theme song was Uh Oh Num-Ni_num-Ni- Nahs..............?
