Historic Woodlawn Vase Fashioned 93 Years Ago: Handsome Trophy Annually Goes to Owner of Preakness Winner, Daily Racing Form, 1953-05-23

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Hii "SfeiSs ■■■• ~andand*and3and!%t IM Rr ijiB $■ ■£- , v WOODLAWN VASE— Coveted winners trophy for Peakness Stakes. Historic Wood lawn Vase Fashioned 93 Years Ago Handsome Trophy Annually Goes To Owner of Preakness Winner PIMLICO, Baltimore, Md., May 22.— Even older than the Preakness Stakes, which will be run for the seventy-seventh time tomorrow, is the trophy which goes to the winning owner with each renewal of the famed classic for three-year-olds. The Woodlawn Vase, symbolic of victory in the Preakness, dates back to 1860, 13 years before the first running of the fixture at Pimlico. Many handsome trophies are given by racing associations all over the world for victory in important stakes, but few have a history comparable to the fine piece of the silversmiths art which is at stake each spring in the Preakness. Standing well over two feet in height and with intricate scroll work, figures and unique designs adorning the framework from top to bottom, the i Woodlawn Vase always is viewed with admiration when on display in the members i club of the Maryland Jockey Club on the i days leading up to the running of the most ; important of Marylands feature events. The Woodlawn Vase war created by the ■ famed Tiffany of New York in 1860 for Col. R. A. Alexander of Kentucky, who had ordered it as a trophy for racing at the i Woodlawn Racing Association, no longer extant. Shortly after the magnificent piece ! of craftsmanship had been completed and I put into competition, the War Between the ; States broke out and those who possessed I jewelry, silver and other ornaments of rare I value immediately took steps to protect t Continued on Page Fifty • i I I ■ , i I 1 Historic Wood lawn Vase Fashioned 93 Years Ago Continued from Page Three them from mauraders on both sides. The Woodlawn Vase was buried throughout the period of the conflict. During the years from the end of the Civil War until Thomas Clyde won it in 1904, the vase passed through many ands Clyde retained possession until 1917, when he presented it to the Maryland Jockey Club as a perpetual trophy for the Preakness. Because of its age and interesting history, Clyde felt that the Woodlawn Vase should be used in connection with something that stood for the very best in racing, and he selected the Preakness Stakes as one of the nations outstanding fixtures. Each year, the winning owner in the Preakness takes home the original Woodlawn Vase and keeps it for a year to remind his friends of the triumph of a three -year-old in the mile and three-sixteenths test. In addition, he receives a smaller copy of the vase, awarded annually by the Maryland Jockey Club, and this the owner re-[ tains for life. The Woodlawn Vase is not the only symbol of victory in the Preakness. When the winning colt or filly is returned to the enclosure reserved for the victors, the tradi-, tional blanket of black-eyed susans, state flower of Maryland, is thrown over the withers. And when the horse gets back to his barn, all hands partake in a victory celebration with a case of champagne, which has been part of Pimlicos contribu- tion to the gayety of the occasion for many years.


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1950s/drf1953052301/drf1953052301_3_2
Local Identifier: drf1953052301_3_2
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800