The Preakness Stakes is the second and shortest of the three horse races that make up the so-called American Triple Crown. It goes by other names such as “The Second Jewel of the Triple Crown”, “The Race for the Black-Eyed Susans” or “The Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown”.
This is Preakness Stakes takes place two weeks after the Kentucky Derby and three weeks before the Belmont Stakes, on the third Saturday in May. In this race, 3-year-old a thoroughbred colts and fillies compete by running on a 1.91-kilometer sand track. Since 1909 the Preakness Stakes has been held at the Pimlico Race Course in the city of Baltimore, in the state of Maryland.
In terms of relevance, the Preakness Stakes is the second largest equestrian event in the United States, behind only the Kentucky Derby. Plus, the race’s attractive winner’s purse of a staggering $1.5 million has helped boost its popularity to the point that even many non-turf racing fans have heard of the Preakness Stakes.
A little history about the Preakness Stakes
This race began to be held in 1873, 2 years before the creation of the Kentucky Derby. It owes its name to a mythical colt that responded to the name of Preakness, which was the horse that won the inaugural race at Pimlico Racecourse. It was former Governor Oden Bowie who had the idea of naming the race after that thoroughbred colt.
In its first edition, on May 27, 1873, 7 foals competed. In 1890 the Preakness Stakes left the Pimlico racecourse to be held at the Morris Park in the Bronx, in New York, although it would change venues again, but without leaving New York, as it moved to Coney Island’s Gravesend Race Track. Finally, the Preakness Stakes returned to Pimlico Race Course where it has remained to this day.
It has not always been the second stage of the Triple Crown, since up to 11 times it has been held before the Kentucky Derby. In its first edition, the purse for the winner was $1,000 but the prize has increased over the years, until in 2014 the current purse for the winner of 1.5 million was established.
In these more than 140 editions, 6 fillies have managed to win the race, the last being Rachel Alexandra in 2009. As for the record for victories by a jockey, it is held by Eddie Arcaro, who managed to win the race 6 times .
What Kind of Horses Run in the Preakness Stakes
Like the rest of the American Triple Crown turf races, the Preakness Stakes is age restricted, so only 3-year-old colts and fillies can compete. In the past there were editions in which this age restriction was removed, which even led to a five-year-old horse, “Montague”, who managed to win the race.
The fastest horse in the history of the Preakness Stakes is still the mythical Secretariat, who won the race in 1973 with a time of 1:53. This record was not without controversy, since the horse had originally been given a time of 1:55 and a hearing had to be held to clarify this fact. Surprisingly, it wasn’t until 2002 that the Secretariat time was officially changed to 1:53.
Where to bet on the Preakness Stakes?
Nowadays it is difficult to find a bookmaker that does not cover the three races of the Triple Crown, so obviously we can bet without difficulties on the Preakness Stakes. The problem is that not all bookmakers allow variations in horse bets and some only allow us to make a future bet on the winner of the race.
In addition, in many bookmakers the odds on horse racing do not compensate at the risk/possible profit level. For this reason, our recommendation is that to bet on the Preakness Stakes you use important bookmakers such as Betway, where we can place future bets on the winner of the Preakness Stakes with an unbeatable odds, in addition to using other common bets on horse racing such as Trifecta Bets. o Betting between horses. If you are not very well-versed in this type of betting, you may want to read our article on horse racing here.
Other interesting bookmakers to bet on the Preakness time are Bodog, Betsson, Rivalo and Bumbet, since they all cover different bets for the horse race in question. Special mention deserves bet365, which, in recent years, has placed special interest in promoting horse betting. Something logical if we take into account that it is a bookmaker of English origin and horse racing has a deep-rooted tradition in the United Kingdom….
In addition, at bet365 we can watch the different horse competitions in streaming just by being identified in our account. This is quite useful, since it is difficult to find where to watch these horse races live.
In these aforementioned betting houses we also find specific offers for different races and it is not uncommon for bonuses to bet on the three races that make up the Triple Crown.
Future bets on the Triple Crown winner
Before the Kentucky Derby takes place, there are several bookmakers that give us the option of betting on a horse as a possible winner of the Triple Crown. This is bet, despite its high risk, can be very attractive from the point of view of finding a higher odd. Once the Derby has been run, the only option for this second race of the Triple Crown is to bet on whether the horse that won in Kentucky will also manage to do so in this test. If the horse is not victorious in the Preakness Stakes, there will no longer be an option for aTriple Crown winner, so the option will disappear from the bookmakers. For all this, betting on a possible Triple Crown winner before the Preakness Stakes is run can be a very good option. In any case, we must not forget that only 13 horses in history have managed to win all 3 tests.
‘Shackleford’ wins Preakness Stakes
Ridden by Mexican Jesús López Castañón, ‘Shackleford’ fought for the lead from the start yesterday Saturday and withstood the final onslaught of the Kentucky Derby winner, ‘Animal Kingdom’, to win the Preakness Stakes.
It was an interesting race from the beginning, since the winning horse knew how to manage his resistance to withstand the attacks of the favorite.
‘Animal Kingdom’, with Puerto Rican John Velázquez, was the favorite, but finished second at Pimlico Racecourse, followed by ‘Astrology’.
The win was revenge for ‘Shackleford’, who finished fourth in the Derby despite leading for most of the race.
He won by three quarters in 1:56.21 minutes. The result means there will also be no Triple Crown winner this year when the Belmont Stakes is run in three weeks’ time.
‘Shackleford’, trained by Dale Romans, trailed ‘Flashpoint’ at the start but took the lead and didn’t let go despite a strong onslaught from ‘Animal Kingdom’.