Preakness Stakes: Date, location, history & how to watch

The Preakness Stakes is the second leg of America's Triple Crown and it takes place each year at Pimlico racecourse in mid-May.

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The Preakness has been around for close to 150 years and has been dubbed "The Run for the Black-Eyed Susans" owing to the fact that a blanket of Maryland's state flower is put on the race winner.

The race is run a fortnight after the Kentucky Derby and the Triple Crown concludes in June with the Belmont Stakes – three weeks after the Preakness.

When is the Preakness Stakes?

The Preakness Stakes takes place at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland on the third Saturday in May – this year's 148th renewal taking place on 20th May with a scheduled post-time of 00:01 UK (Sunday 21st May).

Where is the Preakness Stakes?

Pimlico Racecourse in Baltimore, Marland has been around since the 1660s when colonial settlers named it in honour of Olde Ben Pimlico's Tavern in London, though the racecourse itself is officially dated back to only 1870 – three years before the first running of the Preakness Stakes.

The Preakness is run over a trip of one-mile-one-and-a-half-furlongs on a left-handed Dirt track and is open to three-year-old horses. The purse on offer is estimated to be $1.5m in 2023.

Where can I watch the Preakness Stakes?

You can catch the action from Pimlico via our live sports streaming service, while the Preakness Stakes will also be shown live on Sky Sports Racing in the UK.

Who is the most successful Preakness Stakes trainer?

Seven is the magic number for Preakness winners. That's the tally that R. Wyndham Walden (1875, 1878, 1879, 1880, 1881, 1882, 1888) set in the 19th century and it has been equalled in the modern era by Bob Baffert (1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2010, 2015, 2018).

Two of those Baffert-trained winners – American Pharoah in 2015 and Justfiy in 2018 – had won the Kentucky Derby previously and subsequently won the Belmont Stakes to complete the US Triple Crown. They are only winners of all three races since 1978. 

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Who is the most successful Preakness Stakes jockey?

Cincinnati-born Eddie Arcaro (1941, 1948, 1950, 1951, 1955, 1957) holds the record for Preakness wins, with his six coming across a 16-year span.

Whirlaway (his first winner) and 1948 scorer Citation both completed the Triple Crown for the rider with more wins in American Classic races than anyone else. To this day, Arcaro remains the only jockey to have won the US Triple Crown on more than one occasion (in a single season).

Which horse ran the fastest ever Preakness Stakes?

The great 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat holds the record for the fastest Preakness win, clocking a time of 1min 53sec.

There was some debate over the official timing of the race on the day, but the Maryland Racing Commission does now show Secretariat's time as the fastest on record (at the current Preakness distance, which has been in use since 1925).

What is the greatest Preakness Stakes upset?

Typically, the Preakness isn't a race where rank outsiders do well, with Master Derby in 1975 the biggest SP winner of the race at 23/1.

Kentucky Derby winner Foolish Pleasure was the 6/5 favourite to prevail in the second jewel of the Triple Crown, but Master Derby – only fourth at Churchill Downs a fortnight earlier – had his revenge for trainer Smiley Adams and rider Darrel McHargue, getting first run on the favourite and holding on for a one-length win at the wire.

Can fillies run in the Preakness Stakes?

They can and they do. The fairer sex get a 5lb allowance to compete against males in the Classic at Pimlico and they have come out on top five times over the years. Flocarline (1903), Whimsical (1906), Rhine Maiden (1915), Nellie Morse (1924), Rachel Alexandra (2009) and Swiss Skydiver (2020) have all won the Preakness.

Trained by Kenny McPeek, Swiss Skydiver lasted out best in the home straight in what became a duel with Kentucky Derby winner Authentic to win a real thriller.

Which horses have won the Preakness Stakes most recently?

Here are the winners of The Run for the Black-Eyed Susans since 2010.

YEAR	HORSE	JOCKEY	TRAINER
2010	Lookin At Lucky	Martin Garcia	Bob Baffert
2011	Shackleford	Jesus Castanon	Dale Romans
2012	I'll Have Another	Mario Gutierrez	Doug O'Neill
2013	Oxbox	Gary Stevens	D Wayne Lukas
2014	California Chrome	Victor Espinoza	Art Sherman
2015	American Pharoah	Victor Espinoza	Bob Baffert
2016	Exaggerator	Kent Desormeaux	Keith Desormeaux
2017	Cloud Computing	Javier Castelanno	Chad Brown
2018	Justify	Mike Smith	Bob Baffert
2019	War Of Will	Tyler Gaffalione	Mark E. Casse
2020	Swiss Skydiver	Robby Albarado	Kenny McPeek
2021	Rombauer	Flavien Prat	Mike McCarthy
2022	Early Voting	Jose Ortiz	Chad Brown