The distance of the Preakness is 1 3⁄16 miles, or 9 1⁄2 furlongs or 1.88 kilometers, compared to the 1 ¼-mile Kentucky Derby, which is contested two weeks before the Preakness. It is followed by the third leg of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes, three weeks later and contested at 1 1⁄2 miles. Last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic the Belmont Stakes, won by Tiz The Law, was held first on June 20. The Kentucky Derby, which was contested on September 5, came next and was won by Authentic, while the Preakness, won by the filly Swiss Skydiver, completed the first jumbled Triple Crown on October 3.
Before 1932 the Preakness was run before the Derby 11 times and on May 12, 1917, and on May 13, 1922, the Preakness and the Derby were run on the same day.
Since the Kentucky Derby is always held the first Saturday in May, the Preakness usually is never contested earlier than May 15 or later than May 21. Until 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic and now back to its regular spot.
The Preakness has been staged at seven different distances since first run in 1873:
1 ½ miles — 1873 to 1888 & 1890
1 ¼ miles — 1889
1 1/16 miles — 1894 to 1900 & 1908
1 mile, 70 yards —1 901 to 1907
1 mile — 1909 & 1910
1 1/8 miles — 1911 to 1924
1 3/16 miles — 1925 to present
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