The Preakness Stakes is a Grade I race run over a distance of 1+3⁄16 miles (9.5 furlongs; 1.9 kilometres) on dirt.

[5] Attendance at the Preakness Stakes ranks second in North America among equestrian events, surpassed only by the Kentucky Derby.

[6] After Preakness won the Dinner Party Stakes, his jockey, Billy Hayward, untied a silk bag of gold coins that hung from a wire stretched across the track from the judges' stand.

John Chamberlain's three-year-old, Survivor, collected the $2,050 winning purse by galloping home easily by 10 lengths.

[11] Seven editions of the Preakness Stakes have been run under handicap conditions, in which more accomplished or favored horses are assigned to carry heavier weight.

[10] In March 2009 Magna Entertainment Corp., which owns Pimlico, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy thus throwing open the possibility the Stakes could move again.

On April 13, 2009, the Maryland Legislature approved a plan to buy the Stakes and the Pimlico course if Magna Entertainment could not find a buyer.

In February 2017, the Maryland Stadium Authority released the first phase of a study saying that Pimlico needed $250 million in renovations.

As part of the agreement, Pimlico's grandstand would be demolished and replaced with a smaller structure, and temporary seating would be added to handle the attendance during Preakness week.

The Stronach Group retained intellectual ownership of the Preakness, for which the MTROA pays an annual licensing fee.

The colors of the victorious owner's silks are applied on the jockey and horse that are part of the weather vane atop the infield structure.

The practice began in 1909 when a horse and rider weather vane sat atop the old Members' Clubhouse, which was constructed when Pimlico opened in 1870.

The original trophy is kept at the Baltimore Museum of Art and brought to the race each year under guard, for the winner's presentation ceremony.

[29] In 1940, it was proposed to drape the winning horse in a garland of the Maryland State flower, Rudbeckia hirta, commonly called black-eyed Susans.

Painted flowers have been discontinued since the first decade of the current millennium and Viking Poms, a member of the chrysanthemum family, are now used.

[34] However, despite crowds in excess of 100,000, the BYOB policy was canceled in 2009 after videos of intoxicated people running along the tops of lines of portable toilets while being pelted by beer cans reached a large audience.

In 2010, and the Maryland Jockey Club responded with a new event called "InfieldFest" with performances by musical acts, the "Mug Club", which included an infield ticket and an unlimited-refill beer mug, and a mascot named "Kegasus", a play on keg and pegasus (though actually a centaur).

[36] Aside from InfieldFest, the race is known for its fancy hats and official cocktail, the Black-eyed Susan, made with vodka, St-Germain liqueur and pineapple, lime and orange juices.