Early Voting and Jose Ortiz charging toward their 2022 Preakness victory. (Maryland Jockey Club)
~ 148th Preakness (G1), Middle Jewel of Triple Crown, May 20
~ 99th Black-Eyed Susan (G2) for 3YO Fillies on Preakness Eve
David Joseph/Maryland Jockey Club
BALTIMORE, Md. – The 148th running of the Preakness Stakes (G1), Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown, and 99threnewal of the $300,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2) highlights a spectacular weekend of racing featuring 15 stakes, eight graded, worth $3.5 million in purses May 19 and 20 at historic Pimlico Race Course.
The $1.5 million Preakness for 3-year-olds going 1 3/16 miles is the centerpiece of the weekend and the Preakness Meet at Pimlico, scheduled to run May 11 to June 4. There are nine stakes, five graded, worth $2.5 million in purses on the Preakness Day program Saturday, May 20.
Winchell Thoroughbreds’ Epicenter, runner-up in Preakness 147 last spring, was named champion 3-year-old male of 2022 during the 52nd Eclipse Award ceremony Thursday night at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Fla.
Other graded stakes on the undercard are the $200,000 Dinner Party (G3) for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/8 miles on the grass; $200,000 Chick Lang (G3) for 3-year-olds and $100,000 Maryland Sprint (G3) for 3-year-olds and up, each sprinting six furlongs; and $100,000 Gallorette (G3) where fillies and mares 3 and older will travel 1 1/16 miles on the turf.
Four $100,000 races round out the Preakness Day stakes – the 1 1/16-mile Sir Barton for 3-year-old non-winners of a sweepstakes and six-furlong Skipat for fillies and mares 3 and up on dirt and the five-furlong Jim McKay Turf Sprint for 3-year-olds and up and one-mile James W. Murphy for 3-year-olds on the grass.
The 1 1/8-mile Black-Eyed Susan, one of the most prestigious events in the country for 3-year-old fillies, holds its traditional spot on the Preakness Eve program Friday, May 19 featuring six stakes, three graded, worth $1 million in purses.
The historic $300,000 Pimlico Special (G3) for 3-year-olds and up, contested at the Preakness distance of 1 3/16 miles, and $150,000 Miss Preakness (G3) for 3-year-old fillies sprinting six furlongs top the Black-Eyed Susan undercard.
Three $100,000 stakes round out the program – the 1 1/8-mile Allaire du Pont for fillies and mares 3 and up on dirt and the five-furlong The Very One for fillies and mares 3 and older and one-mile Hilltop for 3-year-old fillies on the turf.
Live racing is currently being conducted at Laurel Park for its winter meet that began Jan. 1 and runs through March 31.
Preakness Weekend: https://www.pimlico.com/sites/www.pimlico.com/files/PDF/2023-Pimlico-Stakes.pdf
