The Preakness Stakes is Saturday, May 16th.

Pimlico Race Course normally hosts the second leg of the Triple Crown but due to major construction in an effort to update the old track the race has been moved to neighboring Laurel Park.

The Preakness, until recently, determines if a Triple Crown will be on the line in the Belmont Stakes three weeks later- again this year being held at Saratoga.

There won’t be any talk of a possible Triple Crown at your Preakness parties this year, so here is six furlongs worth of Preakness tidbits to keep up the conversation while you sip your Black-Eyed Susan waiting for Post Time:

1. SECRETARIAT holds the record for the fastest time in the race clocking in at 1:53 during his 1973 Triple Crown campaign.

2. There have been six fillies that have gotten to the Winner’s Circle in the Preakness. The two most recent being RACHEL ALEXANDRA in 2009, and SWISS SKYDIVER in 2020.

3. The record for most wins by a trainer in the Preakness is Bob Baffert with eight: SILVER CHARM (1997), REAL QUIET (1998), POINT GIVEN (2001), WAR EMBLEM (2002), LOOKIN AT LUCKY (2010), AMERICAN PHAROAH (2015), JUSTIFY (2018) and NATIONAL TREASURE in 2023.

4. SMARTY JONES holds the record for largest margin of victory in the Preakness when in 2024 he galloped home 11 ½ lengths ahead of his nearest challenger.

5. There have been 36 horses that have won the Preakness after a Kentucky Derby victory. And of those 36 only 13 went on to win the Belmont Stakes and sweep the Triple Crown.

6. The largest win payout on a $2 dollar wager is $48.80. MASTER DERBY was 23-1 when he crossed the wire first back in 1975.