The Preakness: An American Classic, continued...


Preakness, you see history, you are a part of his- tory. As former General Manger Chick Lang said, “Before you go to Heaven, you got to make one stop at Hayward and Park Heights to see the Preakness, because that is what it’s all about.”


The Triple Crown


T e phrase “Triple Crown” was bantered about informally until 1935, when popu- lar sports writer Charles Hatton offi cially coined the term for simplicity’s sake for the Derby, Preakness and Belmont when re- porting on Gallant Fox and his son, Omaha, as 1930 and 1935 Triple Crown winners, re- spectively. It was just simply easier to write! T e business entity, Triple Crown Produc-


tions, was created in 1985 by the three tracks after a serious assault on the racing tradition was launched by Bob Brennan, who rebuilt Garden State Park for $170,000,000 into what was considered a state of the art facil- ity at the time. Brennan off ered a $2,000,000 bonus for his Jersey Derby, luring the 1985 Derby winner, Spend A Buck, to skip the Preak- ness. However, with no Triple Crown corpo- rate sponsor to fund a competitive bonus, the situation became critical when Brennan enticed Preakness winner, Snow Chief, to skip a show down with Derby winner, Ferdinand, in the 1986 Belmont. Writing for the L.A. Times, Bill


The 1930 Preakness winner Gallant Fox, owned by Maryland’s Belair Stud, went on to win the Triple Crown. He also fathered 1935 Triple Crown winner Belair Stud’s Omaha.


thinker whose ideas put Churchill Downs and company on the defensive.” T e Maryland Jockey Club brought Chrys- ler to the table to fund the largest corporate sponsorship in US T oroughbred racing at the time, the Chrysler Triple Crown Challenge, in 1987, off ering a $5,000,000 bonus to the horse


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Ground rails through 3’ To Be Held At:


Christine remarked: “T e Triple Crown tracks have organized to fi ght Brennan, but they have moved slowly and have yet to capitalize on more than 100 years of tradition. Brennan...always seems to be a step ahead, a horse in front and a


sweeping all three races, and a points-based $1,000,000 bonus, paid annually, to a horse competing in all three races. Chrysler served as Triple Crown title sponsor through 1995. Visa took over in 1996 and continued its sponsor- ship until 2005. T ere has not been another Triple Crown title sponsor since Visa. Of the Triple Crown races, the Preakness


Stakes has something exclusive – the fi rst public appearance of the Derby winner – and it alone sets up the exciting potential for a possible Triple Crown. Far from any middle child syndrome, strategically, it is the glue that binds the three races together, the cream, if you will, in the proverbial Oreo cookie! With homage to the great Triple Crown


winners, American Pharoah and Justify, the 1989 Preakness was my favorite, not only be- cause of the epic, dramatic stretch battle be- tween Sunday Silence and Easy Goer, but it was the last Preakness with my Dad, before he died in August. T e lasting energy and power of that contest between those two champions was never more evident than at a special eve- ning Preakness Week at Washington, DC’s, Ronald Reagan Building, when 11 years later, that Preakness race replay brought the audience to its feet, clapping, cheering and gasping, even though every single person knew the outcome. T at is what Preakness is to the people.


921277-190519


Courtesy of the City of Bowie Museums


921162-190519


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