Preakness Stakes: 2024 date, time, location, how to watch, purse, horses

The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race which is considered one of the biggest events in the U.S. horse racing calendar.

The Preakness Stakes is a Grade 1 race, which is contested over 9.5 furlongs on dirt. The race is considered the second jewel of the Triple Crown, as it comes two weeks after the Kentucky Derby and three weeks before the iconic Belmont Stakes.

Fans are already excited ahead of the race, especially when the Kentucky Derby was decided by a thrilling photo finish, with Mystik Dan beating Sierra Leone and Forever Young by a nose.

2024 Preakness Stakes date

The 2024 Preakness Stakes will be run on Saturday, May 18, 2024.

2024 Preakness Stakes start time

The 2024 Preakness Stakes is expected to start at 6:50 PM ET.

2024 Preakness Stakes location and venue

As always, the Preakness Stakes will be held at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland.

How to watch 2024 Preakness Stakes, TV channel and streaming

In the United States, the 2024 Preakness Stakes will be shown on NBC, while the race can also be streamed live on Peacock, Youtube TV and fuboTV.

2024 Preakness Stakes purse

The purse of the 2024 Preakness Stakes will increase to $2million from £1.5million in 2023. Organisers will hope that increases participation, even though it is only two weeks after the Kentucky Derby.

In 2023, Mage, who won the Derby, was the only horse to compete in the first two legs of the Triple Crown.

Preakness Stakes history

The Preakness Stakes was first run in 1873, and a former Maryland governor named it after the colt who won the first Dinner Party Stakes at Pimlico. 

The contest is run during "Preakness Weekend", which also includes the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes.

Only the Kentucky Derby commands a bigger attendance in the USA at horse racing events, and the 2024 race will be the 149th edition of the iconic race.

Only seven started in the first edition of the Preakness Stakes, but its popularity has grown over the years. The event has also taken place at other racecourses, but for the majority of its existence, it has been held at Pimlico.

The race has also been run at seven different distances, but the current format has stood since 1925.

Since 1932, the Preakness Stakes has always come second in the schedule for the Triple Crown. 

The winner of the Preakness Stakes is also awarded with a special honour, which is unique to the Pimlico course. As soon as the winner has been declared official, a painter climbs a ladder to the top of a replica of the Old Clubhouse cupola and paints the victorious owner's silks on a weather vane that is at the top of the infield structure.

Trainer Bob Baffert has won the race a record eight times, while jockey Eddie Arcaro's six wins have never been beaten in the race.

Only six fillies have ever won the Preakness, with Swiss Skydiver the last to do so in 2020.

2024 Preakness Stakes horses and post positions

1. Mugatu
2. Uncle Heavy
3. Catching Freedom
4. Muth (scratched)
5. Mystik Dan
6. Seize the Grey
7. Just Steel
8. Tuscan Gold
9. Imagination