Preakness Stakes: Fastest Editions of All-Time
Now that the first leg of the Triple Crown has passed, horse racing’s attention turns to Preakness Stakes 2017. Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming has arrived at Pimlico Race Course in pursuit of the Triple Crown dream and will continue preparations for the middle jewel, which is Saturday, May 20. While the Kentucky Derby was a sloppy track, a fast track in Baltimore could give the Bodemeister colt a chance to break into the fastest Preakness wins run at 1 3/16 miles.
1) Secretariat, 1:53.00, 1973: After winning the Kentucky Derby with a record setting time and putting away his rival Sham by 2 1/2 lengths, “Big Red” moved onto the second leg of the Triple Crown. He broke last, but that didn’t stop him from beating Sham once again by another 2 1/2 lengths. However, his first two Triple Crown races were just a glimpse of what he would accomplish in the Belmont.
2) Louis Quatorze, 1:53.40, 1996: Louis Quatorze finished second in the Hopeful Stakes and the Futurity Stakes at Belmont his two-year-old season and was runner up in the Blue Grass at three. Come Kentucky Derby day he broke bad and had traffic problems, leading to a 16th place finish. The plan for the Preakness was to send the colt to the lead and slow the pace down. He caught the lead, but set a hot pace and led gate to wire.
3) Tank’s Prospect, 1:53.40, 1985: He showed potential at two, running second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile its inaugural year, and won the El Camino Real Derby and Arkansas Derby at three. The son of Mr. Prospector came into his Preakness win off a seventh place finish in the Kentucky Derby.
4) Curlin, 1:53.46, 2007: The two-time Horse of the Year proved to be a game factor during the 2007 Triple Crown campaign. Coming off wins in the Rebel and Arkansas Derby, he finished third in the Kentucky Derby and beat the winner Street Sense two weeks later at Pimlico in the Preakness. Curlin went on to win the Jockey Club Gold Cup twice, the Breeders’ Cup Classic, the Dubai World Cup, the Stephen Foster Handicap, and the Woodward. He now stands at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms and sired the 2016 Preakness winner, Exaggerator.
5) Summer Squall, 1:53.60, 1990: Summer Squall entered the Preakness with seven wins and two seconds from nine races. Of those two defeats, one came in the Kentucky Derby to his rival, Unbridled. Summer Squall turned the tables in the Preakness and beat Unbridled by 2 1/2 lengths. After retirement, Summer Squall stood at Lane’s End Farm and sired Charismatic, who won the first two legs of the 1999 Triple Crown.
6) Gate Dancer, 1:53.60, 1984: While the colt proved he could finish well in stakes company, his highest level wins coming into the Preakness were from allowance races. Gate Dancer won three more times during his race career, those victories coming from the Omaha Gold Cup, the Super Derby, and the Cornhusker Handicap.
7) Sunday Silence, 1:53.80, 1989: Sunday Silence had a rough start before blooming into brilliance. A nasty virus hit him as a weanling, nearly taking his life, and at two he was in a trailer accident when the driver suffered a heart attack and flipped the van. The colt had a stretch of wins before his Preakness victory, taking the San Felipe, the Santa Anita Derby, and the Kentucky Derby. He later won the Breeders’ Cup Classic and was the leading sire in Japan 13 times.
8) Hansel, 1:54.00, 1991: Hansel won the second and third jewel of the Triple Crown, but in the first one he had finished a disappointing tenth. The colt almost skipped the Preakness, but was working to good to keep in the barn. He went on to win big, and earned Champion Three-Year-Old Colt.
9) Canonero II, 1:54.00, 1971: Bred in North Carolina and born with a crooked front leg, it looked like Canonero II would never do well in racing and was sold to Venezuela. There he became a champion at two before winning both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, on his way to Champion Three-Year-Old Colt honors.
10) Codex, 1:54.20, 1980: It took Codex a little while to break through as a competitive colt, but he made his way to the top after winning the Santa Anita Derby and the Hollywood Derby. John Nerud of Tartan Stable did not want Codex nominated for the Kentucky Derby and was reluctant to let him run in the Preakness, but trainer D. Wayne Lukas convinced him otherwise. Codex ended up winning by 4 3/4 controversial lengths over Genuine Risk, the Kentucky Derby winning filly.
11) Spectacular Bid, 1:54.20, 1979: A champion at two, three, and four, Spectacular Bid was one tough horse to beat. He won the Preakness by 5 1/2 lengths and looked as if he would win the Triple Crown just one year after Affirmed. However, the colt ran third in the Belmont. His race record included 26 wins out of 30 starts.
By Christine Oser