$1 million Preakness highlight of Pimlico spring meet

Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore will offer $2.4 million in open,

non-restricted stakes for its spring meet, which runs from April 16 through June

6. The traditional highlight will again be the $1 million Preakness S. (G1), the

middle jewel of the Triple Crown, which will be run for three-year-olds over 1

3/16 miles on May 16. The Preakness anchors the biggest weekend in Maryland

racing on May 15-16, with eight other graded stakes also on tap during the

two-day span.

The Pimlico Special (G1), the historic race for older horses, will not be run

in 2009, the third such occurrence in the past decade. Typically run the day

before the Preakness, the Pimlico Special was also canceled in 2002 and 2007.

Returning from a one-year hiatus will be the $100,000 William Donald Schaefer S.

(G3) for older horses at 1 1/16 miles, which will be run on the Preakness

undercard. The Pimlico Special displaced the Schaefer on the schedule last year.

The highlight of the May 15 Preakness Eve program will be the Black-Eyed

Susan S. (G2) for three-year-old fillies at nine furlongs, which saw its purse

reduced this year from $200,000 to $150,000. On the Black-Eyed Susan undercard

are the $100,000 Miss Preakness S. (G3), a three-year-old filly sprint; the

$100,000 Jim McKay Turf Sprint; the $50,000 The Very One S., a turf sprint for

fillies and mares; the $50,000 Hilltop S. for three-year-old fillies on grass;

and the $50,000 Skipat S., a six-furlong dash for fillies and mares.

The Dixie S. (G2) for older horses on the turf also saw its purse slashed

this year, from $250,000 to $150,000. The Dixie is the highlight of the

Preakness Day undercard which, along with the Schaefer, includes the $150,000

Allaire duPont Distaff S. (G2) for older fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles; the

$100,000 Gallorette H. (G3) for fillies and mares on turf; the $100,000 Maryland

Sprint H. (G3) at six furlongs; the $100,000 Hirsch Jacobs S. (G3), a sprint for

three-year-olds; and the $50,000 Woodlawn S. for three-year-olds on the grass.

In another notable change from last season, the Federico Tesio S., the

traditional Preakness prep for locally based runners, will now be run two weeks

before the Preakness rather than the customary four weeks before. The Tesio,

which will be run May 2, is one of two other open stakes that carry a $75,000 purse. The other is the April 25 Henry

S. Clark S. for older horses over a mile on turf.

Pimlico will also offer five Maryland-bred stakes, two of them starter handicaps,

during the spring meet.