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Story of Preakness Never Grows Old Named for First Winner of Dinner Party Stakes; Latter Set Up at Saratoga Confab PIMLICO, Baltimore, Md., May 18.— The glorious tradition of the American turf will be recalled and enriched with the Diamond Jubilee running of the 5,000 Preakness Stakes here tomorrow. The story has been told and retold, of how the Preakness Stakes was established, but it never loses interest in reiteration. The reason is that the founding of the Preakness Stakes is one of the classic stories of the turf. A group of sportsmen sat down to dinner at Saratoga Springs in 1868 and, one word leading to another, the upshot of it was that a new stake was decided upon, and the persuasions of a Marylander made everyone agree that it be known as the Dinner Party Stakes, be run in the great Free State, more specifically, in the city of Baltimore. A track had to be built, a track that is now known as" Pimlico, and the Dinner Party Stakes was held as scheduled. That first running was in 1870, and, according to newspaper accounts, it was a festive occasion indeed. The race was renewed as the Reunion Stakes and in 1872 as the Dixie. In 1873, the Maryland Jockey Club, oldest organization of its kind in the nation, decided that a sophomore classic was in order for Maryland, and so came about the founding of the present Preakness, named after a noted thoroughbred of that era, Preakness. Called After Farm of Owner Preakness had won the inaugural running of the Dinner Party Stakes, and it was to honor the outstanding thoroughbred that this name was chosen. The horse de- rived his name from the farm of his owner. It is noteworthy that the line of Lexington, of which Preakness was an outstanding example of that day, dominated the Preakness almost from the beginning. Indeed, the first winner was a horse called Survivor, who raced the one mile and a half distance in 2:43, and won ,800. Survivor was by Vandal from an unnamed mare by Lexington. Tom Ochiltree, a son of Lexington, won the race in 1875. Another son, Shirley, won in 1876 and a *third, Duke of Magenta, "scored in 1878. The latter gave trainer R. W. Walden his first Preakness winner. I This record later was to extend to six, a mark for the race which is without parallel. The more modern runnings of the Preakness are more fully documented than those of ancient times. It is worthy of comment that in 1922, the Preakness date conflicted with the Kentucky Derby, Saturday, May 15. Despite this! the Preakness drew 35,000 patrons, and that renewal was won by Pillory, while Morvich was winning the last race of his career, the Derby. , The next year, 1923, the Preakness was carded ahead of the Derby, making it possible for a three-year-old to compete in both races. Later, after much criticism, the present "Triple Crown" schedule took shape, the Derby being run the first week in May, the Preakness about two weeks after, and the Belmont in June. While the Preakness of today is a modern race in every sense of the word, some of its traditions still exist. It has a strictly southern atmosphere. The infield is put to full use to accommodate the crowd which overflows the normal facilities of the old track. Like Derby Day at Louisville, Preakness Day at Baltimore is a gala occasion.
