2020 Preakness Stakes Day

By Miriam Lee

The distance of the Preakness Stakes is 1 3⁄16 miles, or 9 1⁄2 furlongs or 1.88 kilometers, compared to the 1 ¼-mile Kentucky Derby. It usually is followed by the third leg, the Belmont Stakes, which is 1 1⁄2 miles, but this year thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic the race order was switched around. The Belmont Stakes, won by Tiz The Law, was contested on June 20. The Kentucky Derby, which was contested on September 5, was won by Authentic, who makes the trek to Baltimore for the last leg of this year’s Triple Crown after skipping the Belmont.

Tiz The Law - Horse

Tiz The Law – Courtesy of Churchill Downs/Coady Photography.

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Since 1932, the order of Triple Crown races was the Kentucky Derby first, followed by the Preakness Stakes and then the Belmont. Before 1932 the Preakness was run before the Derby 11 times and on May 12, 1917, and on May 13, 1922, the Preakness and the Derby were run on the same day.

Usually the Preakness is contested two weeks after the Kentucky Derby, and the Belmont Stakes follows the Preakness three weeks later. Since the Kentucky Derby is always held the first Saturday in May, the Preakness usually is never contested earlier than May 15 or later than May 21. Until this year.

 

Preakness Stakes Day

The Preakness Stakes is a Grade I stakes race for three year-old Thoroughbreds at Preakness Park run on the third Saturday in May. This year, the race will be held on Saturday, Oct. 3rd.

Preakness Stakes Odds

2020 Preakness Stakes Odds and Post Positions
PP Horse Jockey Odds
1 Excession Sheldon Russell 30-1
2 Mr. Big News Gabriel Saez 12-1
3 Art Collector Brian Hernandez Jr. 5-2
4 Swiss Skydiver Robby Albarado 6-1
5 Thousand Words Florent Geroux 6-1
6 Jesus’ Team Jevian Toledo 30-1
7 NY Traffic Horacio Karamanos 15-1
8 Max Player Paco Lopez 15-1
9 Authentic John Velazquez 9-5
10 Pneumatic Joe Bravo 20-1
11 Liveyourbeastlife Trevor Mccarthy 30-1