The Woodlawn Vase is an American trophy given annually to the winning owner of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore , Maryland .
51-729: After the Preakness Stakes is run each year on the third Saturday of May, the winners are awarded the Woodlawn Vase on national television. The vase was first awarded in 1861 to a stakes-winning mare named Mollie Jackson in Louisville, Kentucky . In 1917, the Woodlawn Vase became the official trophy for the winner of the second jewel of the Triple Crown and was awarded to the Preakness winner Kalitan. For many years
102-889: A buyer. Attendance at the Preakness Stakes ranks second in North America and usually surpasses the attendance of all other stakes races including the Belmont Stakes , the Breeders' Cup and the Kentucky Oaks . The attendance of the Preakness Stakes typically only trails the Kentucky Derby , for more information see American thoroughbred racing top attended events . In February 2017, the Maryland Stadium Authority released
153-463: A distance of 1 + 3 ⁄ 16 miles (9.5 furlongs; 1.9 kilometres) on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds (57 kg); fillies 121 pounds (55 kg). It is the second jewel (or leg) of the Triple Crown , held two weeks after the Kentucky Derby and three weeks before the Belmont Stakes . First run in 1873, the Preakness Stakes was named by a former Maryland governor after
204-625: A full figure of the horse "Lexington" mounted by a jockey in costume. It has been raced for in Louisville , Kentucky , Elizabeth , New Jersey , the Sheepshead Bay Race Track , New York, Jerome Park Racetrack , New York, Morris Park Racecourse , New York, and continuously since 1917, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore , Maryland. Created as a challenge cup, the Woodlawn Vase was first won by Capt. Thomas G. Moore's mare, Mollie Jackson , in 1861. This excerpt appeared in
255-475: A mare and foal. On either side of the pillar is a bulletin, on which the rules to be observed in contending for the prize are distinctly engraved. The centerpiece, or bowl, is fourteen inches above the base, and fourteen inches in diameter, and has four shields. On one of these is engraved the picture of a race horse, on another a representation of the Woodlawn Race Course, on another is a blank for
306-491: A member of the chrysanthemum family, are now used. Although the Preakness is sometimes referred to as "the race for the black-eyed Susans", no black-eyed Susan is ever used. In 1918, 26 horses entered the race, and it was run in two divisions, providing for two winners that year. Currently, the race is limited to 14 horses. In 1948, the Preakness was televised for the first time by CBS . The Preakness has been run at seven different distances: At its inauguration in 1873,
357-410: A one-third-size (35% of scale) solid sterling silver reproduction of the trophy valued at $ 40,000 is given annually to the winning owner to keep permanently. It is made each year at a height of 14 inches with twelve pounds of silver, composed of fourteen large parts and 36 little parts all intricately crafted together. The winning trainer and jockey are given solid sterling silver cups that look similar to
408-520: A replica of the Old Clubhouse cupola . The colors of the victorious owner's silks are applied on the jockey and horse that are part of the weather vane atop the infield structure. The practice began in 1909 when a horse and rider weather vane sat atop the old Members' Clubhouse, which was constructed when Pimlico opened in 1870. The Victorian building was destroyed by fire in June 1966. A replica of
459-533: Is brought to Pimlico Race Course under guard by Maryland National Guard and Air National Airman in dress uniform for the annual running of the Preakness. This is text from a Kentucky Historical Marker near the former site of the track: Woodlawn Race Course – Opened in 1859 and drew national attention. Closed after Civil War . R. A. Alexander , noted breeder, was major figure in buying estate for National Racing Association. He contracted with Tiffany's to design Woodlawn Vase in 1860 and first used in 1861 and 1862. It
510-408: Is four hundred ounces, and its value $ 1,500. The base of this piece is a circle thirteen inches in diameter, supported upon a cross, then four projections of which are faced each with a race shoe; and on the top of each projection is a racing saddle, whip, jockey cap, etc. The upper part of the base represents a lawn, divided into fields by a rustic fence. In one field is seen a stallion and in the other
561-626: The Baltimore Colts' Marching Band would lead the song from the infield; in later years, it was sung by the United States Naval Academy Glee Club . Use of the song was discontinued as of the 2020 edition of the race—the song "which celebrates the Confederacy , is considered by some to be racist.” As soon as the Preakness winner has been declared official, a painter climbs a ladder to the top of
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#1732773053825612-465: The Belmont Stakes . Consequently, the race is run no earlier than May 15, and no later than May 21. One exception is 2020, as that race was run in early October due to the COVID-19 pandemic . Traditionally, just after the horses for the Preakness were called to the post, the audience was invited to sing the third verse of " Maryland, My Maryland ", the official state song of Maryland . For many years,
663-578: The Kentucky Derby winner, some of the other horses that ran in the Derby, and often a few horses that did not start in the Derby. The Preakness is 1 + 3 ⁄ 16 miles, or 9 + 1 ⁄ 2 furlongs (1.88 km), compared to the Kentucky Derby, which is 1 + 1 ⁄ 4 miles / 10 furlongs (2 km). It is followed by the third leg, the Belmont Stakes , which is 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles / 12 furlongs (2.4 km). Since 1932,
714-502: The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing at the Belmont Stakes in June. In 1917, the first Woodlawn Vase was awarded to the Preakness winner, who was not allowed to keep it. Eventually, a half-size reproduction of the trophy was given to winners to keep permanently. The original trophy is kept at the Baltimore Museum of Art and brought to the race each year under guard, for the winner's presentation ceremony. In 1940, it
765-592: The "Mug Club", which included an infield ticket and an unlimited-refill beer mug, and a mascot named " Kegasus ", a play on keg and pegasus (though actually a centaur ). The much-derided Kegasus was retired in 2013. In 2010, ticket sales had recovered to 95,760 and have since stayed high. Aside from InfieldFest, the race is known for its fancy hats and official cocktail , the Black-eyed Susan, made with vodka , St-Germain liqueur and pineapple, lime and orange juices. Speed record: Secretariat ,
816-441: The 1973 winner (and ultimately Triple Crown winner) was originally credited with a running time of 1:55. Two Daily Racing Form clockers, however, had timed Secretariat's Preakness in 1:53 3 ⁄ 5 , which would be a new stakes record. A hearing was held over the time discrepancy, where a video replay showed Secretariat reached the wire faster than Canonero II, the then-current record holder, but instead of giving Secretariat
867-545: The BYOB policy was canceled in 2009 after videos of intoxicated people running along the tops of lines of portable toilets while being pelted by beer cans reached a large audience. In 2009, with the alcohol ban, race attendance dropped to 77,850 after topping 100,000 for eight consecutive years. In 2010, and the Maryland Jockey Club responded with a new event called "InfieldFest" with performances by musical acts,
918-551: The Kentucky Derby was run for the first time, Pimlico introduced its new stakes race for three-year-olds, the Preakness, during its first spring race meet in 1873. Then Maryland governor Oden Bowie named the then mile and one-half (2.41 km) race in honor of the colt Preakness from Milton Holbrook Sanford's Preakness Stud in Preakness , Wayne Township , New Jersey , who won the Dinner Party Stakes on
969-406: The Maryland Stadium Authority to issue $ 375 million in bonds for the renovation of both Stronach Group tracks. The 145th running of the Preakness Stakes was held on Saturday, October 3, 2020, a delay resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak earlier in the year, and setting the year's contest four weeks after the also-delayed Kentucky Derby. It was held without spectators for health reasons because of
1020-476: The Preakness Stakes each year escorted by Maryland Army National Guard Soldiers and Air National Guard Airmen in their dress uniforms donning white gloves for proper care during transportation to the "Old Hilltop's" cupola winner's circle for the presentation ceremony. Standing 36 inches tall and weighing 400 ounces of solid sterling silver (approx. 30 pounds), the Woodlawn vase has a colorful history as rich as
1071-531: The Preakness Stakes. This race was run under handicap conditions, and the age restriction was lifted. The race was won by a five-year-old horse named Montague. After 1890, there was no race run for three years. For the 15 years from 1894 through 1908, the race was held at Gravesend Race Track on Coney Island , New York . In 1909 it returned to Pimlico. Seven editions of the Preakness Stakes have been run under handicap conditions, in which more accomplished or favored horses are assigned to carry heavier weight. It
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#17327730538251122-409: The Preakness carried a value of $ 1,000. The first major increase occurred in 1919 when the race had a $ 25,000 value. It climbed to $ 100,000 in 1946 and in 1959 was raised to $ 150,000. Subsequent increases occurred from 1979 to 1989, when the purse rose four times from $ 200,000 to $ 500,000, before going to $ 1 million in 1997. On December 12, 2013, the Maryland Jockey Club announced for the 2014 running of
1173-418: The Preakness, the purse would be increased from $ 1,000,000 to $ 1,500,000. The race has had something of a party atmosphere in the past, especially in the infield, which is general admission. The course had a " bring your own booze " policy until 2009, formerly including kegs of beer but in the 2000s restricted to all the beer cans a person could carry in a cooler. However, despite crowds in excess of 100,000,
1224-667: The aid of their colt "Bramble" and trainer Jim McLaughlin in the American Stallion Stakes at Churchill Downs , in Louisville, Kentucky. The Dwyer Brothers presented the vase to the Coney Island Jockey Club, where notable stables of the day competed vigorously for the vase for the next 25 years. The first running at Morris Park Racecourse took place on October 26, 1901. It was won by Gold Heels , whose trainer, Matthew Allen , had been part of
1275-523: The city of Baltimore and groups representing Maryland horsemen that would permanently keep the Preakness at Pimlico. As part of the agreement, Pimlico's grandstand would be demolished and replaced with a smaller structure, and temporary seating would be added to handle the attendance during Preakness week. The Racing and Community Development Act, approved by the Maryland state legislature in May 2020, allows
1326-569: The classic event five times. One of the few major races at tracks in the New York/New Jersey area that they never won was the Brooklyn Handicap . The brothers, either together or individually, owned a number of prominent horses, including Hindoo , Bramble , Bella B. , Luke Blackburn , Bonnie Scotland , George Kinney , Miss Woodford , Barnes , Hanover , Raceland , Tremont , Ben Brush , and Cleophus . Mike Dwyer
1377-506: The classic race at which it is presented. The following is an excerpt from Wilkes B. Spirit of "The Times, The American Gentleman's Newspaper" in 1860: "Messrs. Tiffany & Co., the celebrated jewelers, on Tuesday last, sent to Louisville, KY a massive silver vase, for the Woodlawn Race Course Association, the most elegant of its kind ever made anywhere in the world. Its entire height is 36 inches, its weight
1428-607: The colt who won the first Dinner Party Stakes at Pimlico. Annual "Preakness Weekend" races include both the Saturday Preakness Stakes and a Grade II race on Friday for fillies only named the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes . Attendance at the Preakness Stakes ranks second in North America among equestrian events, surpassed only by the Kentucky Derby . The 149th running of the Preakness Stakes was held on Saturday, May 18, 2024. Two years before
1479-574: The current official record for all three Triple Crown races. Other records at other distances: Margin of Victory: Most wins by a jockey : Most wins by a trainer : Most wins by an owner: Six fillies have won the Preakness: Triple Crown winners are in bold . A † designates a filly . § D. Wayne Lukas swept the 1995 Triple Crown with two different horses. Legend – ₩ = Triple Crown Winners, ♥ = Filly Dwyer Brothers Stable Dwyer Brothers Stable
1530-537: The day Pimlico opened (October 25, 1870). The New Jersey name was said to have come from the Native American name Pra-qua-les (" Quail Woods ") for the area. After Preakness won the Dinner Party Stakes, his jockey, Billy Hayward, untied a silk bag of gold coins that hung from a wire stretched across the track from the judges' stand. This was the supposed way that the "wire" at the finish line
1581-414: The first phase of a study saying that Pimlico needed $ 250 million in renovations. As of May of that year, no one showed interest in financing the work. The Stronach Group , owner of Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park , was only interested in moving the Preakness Stakes to Laurel Park unless someone else financed work on Pimlico. In October 2019, The Stronach Group reached an agreement in principle with
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1632-487: The history of the winning of the prize, and the other also blank for a portrait of the winner. Between the shields are four figures of Victory, in frosted silver, each holding a wreath in either hand. Seven inches above the bowl is a circular ornament nine inches in diameter, having engraved on it the portraits of eight officers of the Woodlawn Race Course Association. The whole is surmounted by
1683-485: The latter part of Clyde's condition did not prevail. In 1953, when Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt Jr. 's Native Dancer won the trophy and proclaimed, "Due to the historic value of the legendary trophy and Mrs. Vanderbilt preference not to accept responsibility for the vase's safekeeping until the next year's Preakness," that the trophy be permanently kept and protected by the Maryland Jockey Club . Eventually,
1734-456: The newspaper that week, "The rules under which this prize is to be contended for are such that a man who wins it on the first trial (which is to occur on Saturday, the 18th instant of the year) is to give bonds to produce the Vase for future trials; and no one is entitled to it without giving such bonds, until he has won it three successive times. The challengers for the Vase, who name their horses to
1785-546: The old building's cupola was built to stand in the Preakness winner's circle in the infield. A blanket of yellow flowers daubed with black lacquer to recreate the appearance of a black-eyed Susan is placed around the winning horse's neck at this time, and a replica of the Woodlawn Vase is given to the winning horse's owner. Should that horse have also won the Kentucky Derby , speculation and excitement immediately begin to mount as to whether that horse will go on to win
1836-477: The order of Triple Crown races has the Kentucky Derby first, followed by the Preakness Stakes and then the Belmont Stakes. Prior to 1932, the Preakness was run before the Derby eleven times. On May 12, 1917, and again on May 13, 1922, the Preakness and the Derby were run on the same day. To date, the Preakness is run on the third Saturday in May, two weeks after the Kentucky Derby , and three weeks before
1887-648: The outbreak. In April 2024 the Maryland General Assembly approved a bill that would consolidate Maryland thoroughbred racing at Pimlico and provide for the reconstruction of the Pimlico facility. As a result of the construction, the Preakness Stakes is expected to be moved to Laurel Park in 2026 before returning to Pimlico in 2027. The Preakness is the second leg in American thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown series and almost always attracts
1938-590: The post will be listed in the paper and the result reported for perpetuity in time in our next paper." The same owner retained possession the following year through the victory of the famous mare "Idlewild." The outbreak of the Civil War prevented further competition until 1866. Following the war, the vase remained in Kentucky for 13 years until 1878, when the Dwyer Brothers Stable captured it by
1989-493: The record, the Maryland Jockey Club decided to split the difference and make its official time that of Pimlico's clocker, who had timed the race in 1:54 2 ⁄ 5 . The matter was finally resolved in June 2012, when a meeting of the Maryland Racing Commission unanimously ruled to change Secretariat's final time to 1:53 based on testimony and analysis of the race replays. Consequently, Secretariat holds
2040-399: The training staff at Louisville, Kentucky for 1861 winner, Mollie Jackson. Thomas C. Clyde, owner of Goughacres Stable, won possession through the double victory of his homebred colt "Shorthose" in 1903 and 1904. "Shorthose" was the only horse - with the exception of the wonderful Miss Woodford - to win it twice. In 1917, Mr. Clyde presented the vase to the Maryland Jockey Club, of which he
2091-405: The trophy valued at $ 15,000 each standing at a foot tall. The smaller solid sterling silver replica requires sixteen weeks work of one of the nation's most skilled silversmiths, Kirk Stieff. It is awarded to the winning owner of the Preakness Stakes on a permanent basis. The perpetual trophy is now on display at The Baltimore Museum of Art under the direction of The Maryland Historical Society and
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2142-424: The trophy was given to the winning owner to keep for one year until the next running of the race. In 1953, Native Dancer won the Preakness Stakes and the wife of winning owner Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt Jr. ( Jeanne Murray Vanderbilt ) declined to take annual possession of the trophy because of its monetary and sentimental value to the sport. Following 1953, the winning owner of the horse that won The Preakness Stakes
2193-412: Was a director. It was added to the Preakness that year, though Clyde proposed a condition - the winning owner should keep the vase for the year, and have the privilege of naming the course and the stake for its renewal. Edward R. Bradley's Kalitan was the first winner of the vase at Pimlico. The vase was presented to the winning Preakness owner each year from 1873 to 1889 and from 1917 to 1953 – although
2244-642: Was a partner in Kingston . In 1886 they were a key part of the group of investors who formed the Brooklyn Jockey Club and built the Gravesend Race Track at Gravesend on Coney Island . The brothers racing partnership was dissolved in 1890 and Mike Dwyer went on to enjoy further success. He won the Kentucky Derby for the second time in 1896 with Ben Brush , ridden by jockey Willie Simms . The Brooklyn Derby, founded in 1887,
2295-408: Was an American thoroughbred horse racing operation owned by Brooklyn businessmen Phil and Mike Dwyer . The Dwyer brothers hired trainer Evert Snedecker and purchased their first Thoroughbred, Rhadamanthus, in 1874. In October of that same year they acquired Vigil from Col. David McDaniel who to that point had earned $ 5630. In the ensuing few months of 1876 the colt won another $ 20,160 and
2346-399: Was buried for safety during the Civil War. The Vase is now winner's trophy at the Preakness Stakes , where a replica is given each year. Preakness Stakes The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held annually on Armed Forces Day , the third Saturday in May at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore , Maryland . The Preakness Stakes is a Grade I race run over
2397-470: Was chosen that year's retrospective American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse . Other trainers who worked for the Dwyers were James G. Rowe Sr. and Frank McCabe . The Dwyers won the 1881 Kentucky Derby with future U.S. Hall of Fame colt Hindoo and finished second with Runnymede the following year. However, they had their greatest racing success in the Belmont Stakes in their hometown, winning
2448-639: Was first run under these conditions in 1890 and again in the years 1910–1915. During these years, the race was known as the Preakness Handicap. In March 2009 Magna Entertainment Corp. , which owns Pimlico, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy thus throwing open the possibility the Stakes could move again. On April 13, 2009, the Maryland Legislature approved a plan to buy the Stakes and the Pimlico course if Magna Entertainment could not find
2499-568: Was introduced and how the awarding of "purse" money came to be. In reality, the term "purse", meaning prize money, had been in use for well over a century. The first Preakness, held on May 27, 1873, drew seven starters. John Chamberlain's three-year-old, Survivor , collected the $ 2,050 winning purse by galloping home easily by 10 lengths . This was the largest margin of victory until 2004, when Smarty Jones won by 11 1/2 lengths. In 1890, Morris Park Racecourse in The Bronx, New York , hosted
2550-422: Was no longer allowed to keep the trophy for the year. In 1983, the trophy's silver design was appraised by Tiffany and Company of New York (the original creator in 1860) as priceless but a figure of $ 1,000,000 was established for insurance purposes. The appraised value is now reported to exceed $ 4,000,000.00 in replacement value. The original trophy is kept at the Baltimore Museum of Art in Maryland and brought to
2601-501: Was proposed to drape the winning horse in a garland of the Maryland State flower, Rudbeckia hirta , commonly called black-eyed Susans. This posed a problem, as the race is run nearly two months before the flowers come into bloom in late June or July. At first, yellow Viking daisies were painted to resemble black-eyed Susans . Painted flowers have been discontinued since the first decade of the current millennium and Viking Poms,
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