Barbaro Updates: 584
updates are now here.
Update 3463: Hot on the heals of the retirement of Europe's leading sire Sadlers Wells, America's leading sire Storm Cat has retired: Storm Cat Pensioned.
Update 3462: Paul Moran's piece on the Horse Slaughter HBO Special is now on The Rail:
Update 3461: Gayego will return for the Preakness on Saturday: Gayego Will Challenge Big Brown Again.
Update 3460: Superfecta here, with your regularly weekly update. Today, we take a look at Preakness history.
The Preakness is named after Preakness, a colt by Lexington, who was owned by Milton Holbrook Sanford and was the winner of the inaugural Dinner Party Stakes. Sanford owned Preakness Stables in
The Dinner Party Stakes was itself named after (appropriately enough) a dinner party hosted by Sanford in 1868. The race, first run in 1870, was to be for 3-year-old colts and fillies, over a distance of 2 miles.
Presumably a fair amount of alcohol was consumed at this Petronian dinner, for the Governor of Maryland declared that he would have a track built to host this great race, which would offer a $15,000 purse - and so Pimlico was born.
On the day of the Dinner Party Stakes, Preakness himself was one of only two colts in the seven-horse field, and it was his first start (and only start for the year). A $2000 yearling purchase (the top price in that year's 1868 Woodburn sale), Preakness would continue to race through his 8-year-old season and eventually retired to stud in
After his purchase by the Duke of Hamilton, however, things got a bit peculiar. Preakess apparently became very difficult to handle (at least for his owner) and the Duke shot and killed him after an 'incident' in his stall. An outraged British public demanded, and received, much stricter laws governing the treatment of racehorses and other animals.
Preakness had some notable offspring; his son Fiddler won the Alexandra Plate, whose entry conditions at that time are worth considering (and if you've never looked through the New York Times Archives, you should):
The Alexandra Plate, 1000 sovereigns, added to a sweepstakes of 25 sovereigns each, 15 forfeit, for 4-year-olds, to carry 9 stone; 5, 9 stone 6 pounds; 6 and aged, 9 stone 7 pounds; mares and geldings allowed 4 pounds; winners of any sweepstakes or price worth 2,000 sovereigns in any country in 1881 or 1882, or the Ascot, Goodwood, or Doncaster Cups or Alexandra Plate in 1881 or 1882, to carry 5 pounds extra; maiden 4-year olds at the time of starting allowed 7 pounds, 5 and upward, 10 pounds; pure Barbs and Arabians allowed 28 pounds, and no other allowance; the second horse to receive 200 sovereigns out of the stakes and the third horse to save his stake; to start at the new mile post and go once around; about three miles, 21 subscribers.
It certainly makes the graded stakes shuffle for the Derby look simple and orderly.
But back to the origins of the Preakness as a race; the Dinner Party morphed into the Dixie (and so it remains today) - now
The race was not always run at Pimlico, however - between 1890 and 1909, it was run at Morris Park and Gravesend in
Today, there's even an indie band called The Preakness; I would suggest that the story of their namesake would make a great twee-pop ballad.
Update 3459: Paul Moran assesses HBOs feature on Horse Slaughter that first aired last night: HBO expose falls short of the mark, excerpt:
Above all, the piece failed to place blame on the owners of horses sent to slaughter or confront those ultimately responsible. Ownership of an animal comes with the responsibility to provide proper care and feeding. Selling a horse -- any horse -- for a few hundred dollars with full knowledge that it will be vanned to Canada or Mexico, slaughtered, butchered and ultimately eaten somewhere in Europe of Asia is appallingly inhumane.
Update 3458: We have improving weather! Very cool. Another relative quiet morning this morning for us at Woodbine. Only five sets. However one of my horses was very fractious coming off the track this morning. I had a feeling this was going to happen. As I was walking to the track I said so to another rider coming back "This may be the closest for me to falling off, if I don't fall off" ... sometimes you just know! As I came off the track my horse knocked our assistant trainer out of the way and just went nuts going towards the tunnel. Bucking (I lost my neckstrap twice he bucked so high) rearing and plunging. At one point I was half off. He seemed to know it and relaxed and waited 'til I was set and then went at it again! Anyway, once I got him back in the tunnel my left styrup leather had come lose. That was it, time to dismount and lead him home. Phew, I survived. The others went well.
Update 3457: Sadlers Wells, 14 times Europe's leading sire has been retired due to declining fertility: Sadler's Wells Pensioned.
Monday's Preakness activities: Preakness Updates: Monday.
Please keep calling and writing.
Good morning Barbaro and Eight Belles. We miss you and will remember you always for all you did on the track, for all you are doing for track safey, and helping give other horses a second chance.
Lisa in Colorado
Posted by: Lisa Leach at May 13, 2008 10:36 AM