The second leg of the Triple Crown. Two weeks after the Kentucky Derby, the best three-year-old thoroughbreds in America return to the track at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore — where the roses give way to Black-Eyed Susans.
The middle jewel of the Triple Crown — and one of America's oldest sporting events.
The Preakness Stakes is the middle race of America's Triple Crown — the three-race series that begins with the Kentucky Derby (May 2) and concludes with the Belmont Stakes (June 6). Any horse that wins all three in the same spring becomes a Triple Crown champion — one of the rarest achievements in sport. The Preakness is where that dream is either advanced or ended.
The Preakness comes just fifteen days after the Kentucky Derby — a quick turnaround that tests the fitness, soundness, and management of every horse and team in the race. The Derby winner carries the weight of Triple Crown expectations. Horses that skipped the Derby often enter fresh here, making the Preakness field a fascinating tactical puzzle compared to the Derby's pure sprint chaos.
Just as the Kentucky Derby winner is draped in a blanket of red roses, the Preakness winner is adorned with a blanket of Black-Eyed Susans — the state flower of Maryland. The yellow and black flowers have been a Preakness tradition since 1940. The winning horse, jockey, trainer, and owner each receive a small bouquet at the presentation ceremony.
The Preakness is held at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore — one of the oldest racetracks in North America, open since 1870. Known affectionately as "Old Hilltop," Pimlico gives the Preakness a different atmosphere from the Derby's grand Louisville spectacle. The infield party at Pimlico has developed its own legendary (and boisterous) identity.
Everything you need to follow the race — start here.
The Preakness field includes the Derby's best, plus fresh horses who skipped Churchill Downs. We break down the leading contenders — their form, trainers, jockeys, and Triple Crown chances.
The Preakness broadcasts nationally on NBC. The race runs about 1 minute 55 seconds — but Preakness Week in Baltimore is a full celebration, including the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes for fillies on Friday.
The Preakness is actually older than the Kentucky Derby — first run in 1873. From Man o' War to Secretariat to the modern era, the full story of racing's most dramatic middle race.
Same horses, different race — here's what changes at Pimlico.
The Preakness is run at 1&frac3;16 miles — slightly shorter than the Derby's 1¼ miles. This seemingly small difference matters: horses that tired at the end of the Derby may benefit from the shorter test. Pure speed horses that got beaten for stamina at Churchill Downs can turn the tables here. The distance rewards a different profile than the Derby.
Where the Kentucky Derby can accommodate up to 20 starters, the Preakness typically runs with 8 to 14 horses. The smaller field means less traffic, fewer early confrontations, and cleaner running lanes throughout. A horse that had a nightmare trip at Churchill Downs — squeezed, bumped, or wide the whole way — gets a much fairer shot at Pimlico.
Trainers who deliberately skipped the Derby can enter their horse fresh for the Preakness. These horses — sometimes called "Preakness-only" horses — have a significant advantage in energy and soundness. They haven't been through the Derby grind. Historically, fresh horses have upset Derby winners at Pimlico more often than at any other point in the Triple Crown.
A Kentucky Derby winner who also takes the Preakness advances to Belmont Park needing only one more victory to claim the Triple Crown. The pressure intensifies enormously — the Belmont becomes the most-watched horse race of the year, and horses that have never won a 1½-mile race must suddenly do so in front of the largest crowd of their career. The Preakness is the gatekeeper: win here, and the dream lives. Lose here, and the Triple Crown chase is over.
Three races, five weeks, one impossible dream.
1¼ miles. Up to 20 starters. The Run for the Roses — where the Triple Crown dream begins or ends before it starts.
1⅛ miles. Fifteen days after the Derby. The battlefield where Triple Crown dreams advance or are extinguished.
1½ miles. "The Test of the Champion." The longest and most grueling — where Triple Crown bids are crowned or crushed.
Winning all three races — the Derby, Preakness, and Belmont — in the same spring is one of the hardest achievements in all of sport. It has happened just 13 times in over 150 years. The most recent Triple Crown champions are American Pharoah (2015) and Justify (2018). Before American Pharoah, the feat had not been accomplished in 37 years — a drought that stretched from Affirmed in 1978 all the way to 2015.
From post draw to the blanket of Black-Eyed Susans.
Win, Place, Show, and Exotic Bets — decoded for first-time fans.
Betting is woven into the fabric of thoroughbred racing — the tote board, the odds, and the commentators all assume a baseline familiarity. You don't need to wager to enjoy the Preakness, but understanding these terms makes the broadcast and the atmosphere dramatically richer.
The three straight bet types. A Win bet pays only if your horse finishes first. A Place bet pays if your horse finishes first or second. A Show bet pays if your horse finishes first, second, or third. Show bets are the safest — but the payout is smallest. The minimum bet at most tracks is $2.
Exotic bets require predicting the finishing order of multiple horses. An Exacta asks you to pick the 1st and 2nd place finishers in the correct order. A Trifecta adds a third — pick 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in exact order. The payouts can be substantial because the combinations are hard to nail, especially in a full field. A "box" lets the horses finish in any order, at a higher cost.
A Superfecta extends the trifecta to four horses in exact finishing order — extremely difficult to hit, but capable of life-changing payouts on a small $0.10 base bet. The Daily Double is a multi-race bet: pick the winners of two consecutive races. Preakness Day undercard races often feed into a Daily Double that includes the Preakness itself.
Horse racing uses parimutuel wagering — the track pools all the money bet on a race, takes a cut, and pays out winners from what remains. Odds are set by where the crowd puts its money, not by the house. Odds displayed as 5-2 mean you win $5 for every $2 wagered (plus your $2 stake back). A horse listed at 2-5 is a heavy favorite — you'd wager $5 to win only $2. The lower the odds, the more the crowd trusts that horse. The higher the odds, the longer the shot — and the bigger the potential reward if they pull off the upset.