by Renee Israel
The 2012 Preakness Stakes will be run on Saturday, May 19 at the Pimlico Race
Course in Baltimore, Maryland, where it has been run since inception. In terms
of attendance, the Preakness Stakes ranks second in the US horse racing circuit.
It is bettered only by the Kentucky Derby. The 2012 Preakness Stakes will be the
137th year the race will be run. The first Preakness Stakes was run in 1873 and
the only years the race has not been run were 1891 through 1893. The race is for
thoroughbred three year old colts, geldings and fillies. However over 95% of the
time the race has been won by colts.
Many Runners also Ran in the Kentucky Derby
The list of probable contenders for the 2012 Preakness Stakes is out, though
some changes can yet be made. Many of the horses are familiar from the Kentucky
Derby, which was run just two weeks back.
The winner of the Kentucky Derby almost always runs in the Preakness so as to
keep the US Triple Crown hopes alive, which is why Preakness Stakes favourite
I'll Have Another has been entered.
Other Kentucky Derby familiars in the 2012 Preakness Stakes are Creative Cause,
Went The Day Well, Optimizer, Bodemeister and Daddy Nose Best. Notable absentees
as per current information are Dullahan who finished third at Kentucky and Union
Rags a favourite who failed to deliver. Other names as of now include Teeth of
the Dog, Tiger Walk, Pretension, Zetterholm, Cozzetti and Guyana Star Dweej.
All the UK white listed online betting sites will offer odds for the 2012
Preakness Stakes. However, the odds will be posted only after the final list
is confirmed. The online betting sites that British punters can check out
include Bet365, Ladbrokes, Paddy Power and William Hill.
History and Tradition at the Preakness Stakes
Preakness is an unusual name and there is something of a history behind it.
In 1870, when the Pimlico Race Course opened, the flagship Dinner Party Stakes
race was won by a colt named Preakness. The mayor of Baltimore named this
prestigious race after that colt. Preakness was from the Preakness Stables
located in Preakness, New Jersey. Preakness means Quail Woods in the Native
American language.
The Preakness Stakes has a tradition of its own. When the horses are called
to the post, the audience is invited to sing Maryland, My Maryland, the official
song of the state. When the winner has been officially announced, the colours of
the victorious owner's silks are painted on the jockey and horse in the weather
vane. A blanket of yellow flowers daubed with black lacquer named as Black-Eyed
Susans is placed around the winning horse's neck.
