Preakness
AmericanUsage
What is the Preakness? The Preakness is an annual horse race at the Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It’s officially called the Preakness Stakes. It is the second race in the three-race that also includes the races known as the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes. Winning all three races in a single year is known as winning the Triple Crown. The Preakness is limited to 14 three-year-old horses and is run on a dirt track that is 1 3/16 miles long.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Of the 95 horses who have run in the Kentucky Derby in the past five years, only 13 entered the starting gate for the Preakness.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
A few days later, DeVaux said that Golden Tempo would skip the Preakness and await the Belmont Stakes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
The exclusion of the Triple Crown’s middle jewel comes after three of the last five Kentucky Derby winners skipped the Preakness, including in each of the past two years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
The Kentucky Derby was run on the first Saturday in May, followed two weeks later by the Preakness and three weeks after that by the Belmont.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
Earlier in the meet, a much-anticipated meeting between Kentucky Derby winner Lawrin and Preakness winner Dauber had to be canceled at the last moment when Dauber suffered a minor injury.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
