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Pimlico Is Steeped in Turf Tradition Washington, Jackson Graced Jockey Club List in Old Days Name of Preakness Selected* ► To Honor Victor of Inaugural is is Dinner Party Stakes in 1 870 01 By CHARLES HATTON PIMLICO. Baltimore, Md., May 22.— At JJ only a few of the countrys racecourses can J* one find more of the turf "s traditions or as u many interesting stories connected with a Jj track and its feature race than one picks ** up in a short stay here, where the seventy- ™ " seventh Preakness is to be decided to- a morrow. When a race has its seventy-seventh run- +, ning and is as famous as the Preakness, + the natural assumption is that Pimlico has y been the scene of the contest each year. Yet, even that is not true. Inaugurated here in 1873, it was continued until 1889 and then there was a five-year lapse. The "J Brooklyn Jockey Club revived the stake in jj 1894 at its Gravesend course and it was « offered as one of the attractions there until h 1908. a a a Back in Pimlico in 1909, it was won by Effendi under Willie Doyle, who later was to serve as a patrol judge at Pimlico for I many years prior to his death just a couple of seasons back. p The early history of the Preakness is 1 closely interlocked with that of another s race, now known as the Dixie Handicap, t and which is one of the coveted features a each spring. The Dixie, then known as the I Dinner Party Stakes, was first run in 1870 j and was won by the horse, Preakness, named after a small town in New Jersey. - ; Three years later, when the Maryland 1 j Jockey Club decided to include a three- j year-old stakes in its annual program, the ; name Preakness was selected, to honor this 1 j first winner of the Dinner Party event. . • Tradition and Progress Hand in Hand * There have been those who remarked, as they walked into Pimlico, that they "stum- t J bled over tradition." Tradition, according * to the new management, of the Maryland j £ Jockey Club, can walk hand in hand with progress. Plans are afoot for rebuilding , this ancient structure, but with all the [ modernization, the owners hope never to ] lose sight of the many things which have , J made the track notable among American , * turf centers. Pimlico is unique in that it had a race • scheduled over it before the track was completed or a grandstand built. For the original Dinner Party Stakes was conceived in 1868 at Saratoga and the year 1870 was set for its running, with Pimlico as the site. Governor Oden Bowie was insistent that the race be run in Baltimore and when other sportsmen argued that the city did not have a track, he assured them one would be ready for the race, and it was. Just how the name Pimlico was selected remains open to debate, for most of the records of the Maryland Jockey Club were destroyed in the Baltimore fire of 1904, the offices being located in the downtown area. Some feel that the track was named for "Old Ben Pimlicos Nut Browne Ale," a feature in sixteenth-century London his-• tory. Others believe the track was named after an island known as Pimlyco. Old land records of 1699 in Baltimore reveal that a tract known as Pemblicoe was laid out in the district in which the course now is located, and it may be that Pimlico is an abbreviation of this name. Originally Built in 1870 Originally constructed in 1870, Pimlico burned just after the turn of the century and it was enlarged in the process of reconstruction. Again in 1928, when additions were made, it was reinforced with steel and has stood since then. Although the first racing dates back to 1870, the history of the Maryland Jockey Club extends much farther, for the club was incorporated in 1743 at Annapolis, the capital of the state. George Washington and Andrew Jackson were among the notables whose names graced the roster of Jockey Club members in the early days, and both raced horses. 1 One of the customs at Pimlico has been carried on since 1870. Each steward at the meeting wears a white rose in his coat lapel as a symbol of his position. Requirement that white roses be worn by the stewards was written into the new charter, granted the track in 1831 by the Congress of the United States. That same congress adjourned its session in 1877 to travel to Pimlico and see the three-horse match among Parole, Ten Broeck and Tom Ochiltree. First time visitors to Pimlico are often a little amazed as they gaze at the so-called old clubhouse, now known as the Members Club. Its ancient architecture is still attractive enough, and atop the cupola, a weather vane is adorned with a horse and rider and emblazoned on the back of the jockey are familiar racing colors. Each i i i ; ■ i ! I ; I I t ► is is 01 JJ u J* Jj ** ™ " a +, + y "J jj « h a a a I p 1 s t a I j - ; 1 j j ; 1 j . • * t J j * £ , [ ] , J , * • year, the winner of the Preakness Stakes honored by having his or her stable colors on the weather vane rider. The names of winners of the Preakness and other of Pimlicos noted events are prominently on display all over the structure. Box fronts and facades on both the little clubhouse and the grandstand are inscribed with them. Winners of the Dixie, Pimlico Special, Pimlico Futurity have their names in these prominent spots and the casual racing fan, strolling along the apron in front of the plant, may enjoy many a moment of retrospect gazing upon the array of talent that has won past features. Man o War, Citation, Equipoise, Whirlaway, Shut Out, War Admiral and scores of others are there. Pimlico long has been host at the "alibi table," in the old clubhouse, where trainers gather, each morning to offer to fellow conditioners any excuses their horses may have had on the previous day. It also is hospitable tradition at Pimlico to send case of champagne to the barn of the winning horse in each Preakness. Puts Best Food Forward Maryland, famed for its eating places, puts its best foot forward Preakness week. ~ This has been going on for years and even show business used to join in the celebration. The Baltimore Opera House in 1873 advertised "The Maryland Jockey Club Ballet," and, as an added feature, a stee-1 plechase burlesque. The Preakness trophy, the Woodlawn Vase, has a history similar to that of the track. Made in 1860 by Tiffany for Col. R. A. Alexander of the Woodlawn Racing Association in Kentucky, it was used as a racing trophy until the Civil War, buried during that conflict, disinterred and eventually won by Thomas Clyde, founder of the Clyde-Mallory Lines. In 1917, Clyde presented it to the Maryland Jockey Club of which he was a director and stockholder, to be used as a permanent prize for the states most important race. This years Preakness promises to be one of the top races in a long series of great renewals since it gives Alfred Vanderbilts Native Dancer an opportunity to avenge his defeat by Cain Hoy Stables Dark Star Continued on Page Forty -Three History of Pimlico L SteepedinTradition Washington, Jackson Once Graced Jockey Club Roster; Preakness Named for Horse If Continued from Page Three 5 in the Kentucky Derby. Vanderbilt never : has had his colors flown from the weather t vane at Pimlico. The closest he came was -when Discovery was third behind High : Quest and Cavalcade in 1934. 3 For Eddie Arcaro, rider of Jamie K., for t the Spring Hill Farm in tomorrows classic here, it will be an opportunity to score his fifth Preakness victory and thus tie a rec- j cord he has made by winning five runnings . of the Kentucky Derby. Arcaro first won . the Preakness in 1941 with Whirlaway, scored again in 1948 with Citation, in 1950 : with Hill Prince and in 1951 with Bold. ; Some Pimlico records may topple with . the current running of the Preakness, since ,« there is nationwide interest in Native # Dancers attempt to return to the throne « unopposed in the three-year-old division. Back in the war year of 1946, Pimlico played host to 42,370 patrons as Assault triumphed in the Preakness. On that afternoon, a total of ,219,120 was wagered by the huge throng, and that, too, stands as a record here. Woldens Training Record No trainer ever has approximated the record of R. W. Walden in winning the Preakness. In the period between 1875 and 1888, Walden, a native Marylander, sent out seven victors. He started with Tom Ochiltree in 1875, won with Duke of Magenta in 1878, with Harold in 1879, Grenada in 1880, Saunterer in 1881, Vanguard in 1882 and Refund in 1888. Five of these were owned by G. L. Lorillard, the exceptions being Tom Ochiltree and Refund. Lorillard still ranks as the leading owner in the Preakness, with Calumet Farm standing in second position. Calumets winners, four in all, were Whirlaway in 1941, Pensive in 1944, Faultless in 1947 and Citation in 1948. Favorites have won the Preakness 22 times in the previous 76 runnings. While it is expected that Native Dancer will be the public choice in the 1953 running, few believe he will be as short as was Citation in 1948, when the mutuel payoff was .20 for . Longest shot in Preakness history was Coventry, the 1925 victor, who paid 5.60 for . Greentree Stables Capot holds the Preakness time record of 1:56 while, strangely enough, the slowest Preakness at a mile and three -sixteenths was the 2:02% turned in by Citation over a heavy track.
