The Preakness Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race 1-3/16 mile (1.91 km) thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old horses, held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds (57 kg); fillies 121 lb (55 kg). The Preakness Stakes has been termed "The Run for the Black-Eyed Susans" because a horseshoe of black-eyed susans (Rudbeckia hirta), the state flower of Maryland, is traditionally placed around the winner's neck. This year's race, which was held on Saturday May 19, 2007, was race 12 with a post time of 6:09 PM and featured a field of nine horses.The Preakness is the second and shortest leg in American thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown and almost always attracts the Kentucky Derby winner, some of the other horses that ran in the Derby, and often a few horses that did not start in the Derby. (The phrase "Triple Crown" was not applied to this series of races until the 1930s.) It is followed by the third leg, the Belmont Stakes.Two years before the Kentucky Derby was run for the first time, Pimlico introduced its new stakes race for three-year-olds, the Preakness, during its first-ever spring race meet in 1873 . Former Maryland Governor Oden Bowie named the then mile and one-half (2.41 km) race in honor of the colt Preakness from Milton Holbrook Sanford's Preakness Stables in Preakness, Wayne Township, New Jersey who won the Dinner Party Stakes on the day Pimlico Race Course opened on October 25, 1870.The first Preakness drew seven starters; John Chamberlain's three-year-old, Survivor, galloped home easily by 10 lengths, the largest margin of victory until 2004, winning a purse of $2,050.In 1889, George "Spider" Anderson became the first African-American jockey to win the Preakness. In 1890 Morris Park Racetrack in the Bronx, New York hosted the race but, for the next three years, no Preakness Stakes was run. For the 15 years from 1894 through 1908, the race was held at Gravesend Race Track on Coney Island, New York.Just after the horses for the Preakness are called to the post, the audience is invited to sing "Maryland, My Maryland," the official state song of Maryland. Traditionally, the United States Naval Academy Glee Club assembles in the Pimlico infield to lead the song.As soon as the Preakness winner has been declared official, a painter climbs a ladder to the top of a replica of the Old Clubhouse cupola. He applies the colors of the victorious owner's silks on the jockey and horse that are part of the weather vane atop the infield structure. The horseshoe of black-eyed Susans is placed around the winning horse's neck at this time and a replica of the Woodlawn Vase is given to the winning horse's owner. Should that horse have also won the Kentucky Derby, speculation and excitement immediately begin to mount as to whether that horse will go on to win the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing at the Belmont Stakes in June.The practice started in 1909 at Pimlico when a horse and rider weather vane sat at the top of the old Members' Clubhouse, which was constructed when Pimlico opened in 1870. The Victorian building was destroyed by fire in June 1966. A replica of the old building's cupola was built to stand in the Preakness winner's circle in the infield.In 1917, the first "Woodlawn Vase" was awarded to the Preakness winner which he was not allowed to keep. Eventually a half-size reproduction of the trophy was given winners to keep permanently. The original trophy is kept at the Maryland Historical Society and brought to the Preakness race each year for the winner's presentation ceremony.In 1918, 26 horses entered the race, and it was run in two divisions, providing for two winners that year.In 1948, the Preakness was televised for the first time by CBS.The Preakness has been run at seven different distances:1-1/2 miles (2.41 km) : 1873-1888, 18901-1/4 miles (2.01 km) : 18891-1/16 miles (1.71 km) : 1894-1900, 19081 mile 70 yards (1.67 km) : 1901-19071 mile (1.61 km) : 1909, 19101-1/8 miles (1.81 km) : 1911-19241-3/16 miles (1.91 km) : 1925-presentThe leading Preakness winning jockeys are:Eddie Arcaro : (6) including two consecutive wins in 1950-51Pat Day : (5) including three consecutive wins in 1994-96George Barbee, Bill Hartack and Lloyd Hughes: (3)The leading Preakness winning trainers are:R. Wyndham Walden: (7)Thomas J. Healey, D. Wayne Lukas: (5)Jim Fitzsimmons, Jimmy Jones, Bob Baffert: (4)John Whalen: (3)Calumet Farm is both the leading breeder and owner of Preakness winners with seven each.Set by Tank's Prospect in 1985 and equaled by Louis Quatorze in 1996 and Curlin in 2007, the speed record for the current 1-3/16 miles (1.91 km) Preakness is 1:53 2/5 seconds. The record victory margin is 11½ lengths, by Smarty Jones in 2004.Four fillies have won the Preakness:1903 - Flocarline1906 - Whimsical1915 - Rhine Maiden1924 - Nellie Morse Preakness Stakes winnersA †designates a Triple Crown WinnerNote: D. Wayne Lukas swept the 1995 Triple Crown with two different horses.In 2006, Kentucky Derby Winner Barbaro broke down in the first 100 yards of the Preakness. Bernardini went on to win the prestigious event. Barbaro survived his injuries and was cared for at the New Bolton Center of the University of Pennsylvania but was euthanized January 29, 2007. This year's ninth race is now called the Barbaro Stakes in his honor.