Attendance at the Preakness Stakes usually ranks second in North America behind the Kentucky Derby and usually surpasses the attendance of all other stakes races, including the Belmont Stakes, the Breeders' Cup Saturday program, and Kentucky Oaks Day. Unfortunately, in 2020, there were no spectators due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in 2022, attendance was limited to just 10,000.
The most attended Preakness Stakes in history was in 2017 when Cloud Computing emerged victorious in front of 140,237. In 2015, when American Pharoah won the second leg of his Triple Crown, 131,680 were present, and when Justify accomplished the feat in 2018, 134,497 were there to witness history.
The most money ever bet on the Preakness Stakes was the $67,731,145 handled in 2021. The 146th running of the Preakness Stakes in 2021 set an all-time all-sources total handle record for the entire day of $112,504,509.
In 149 races (the Preakness Stakes was run in two divisions in 1918), 73 winners have left the post as the favorite. Since 1911, when pari-mutuel wagering began at Pimlico, 28 Preakness favorites have started at odds of less than even money with eighteen winning and 10 returning .50 to 1.00 or less -- Citation, 1948 (¢.10-1.), Spectacular Bid, 1979 (¢.10-1), Count Fleet, 1943 (¢.15-1), Big Brown, 2008 (¢.20-1), Native Dancer, 1953 (¢.20-1), Secretariat, 1973 (¢.30-1), Nashua, 1955 (¢.30-1), War Admiral, 1937 (¢.35-1), Seattle Slew, 1977 (¢.40-1), Justify, 2018 (¢.40-1), Affirmed, 1978 (¢.50-1) and California Chrome, 2014 (¢.50-1).
The writing team at US Racing is comprised of both full-time and part-time contributors with expertise in various aspects of the Sport of Kings.
