The 1928 Preakness Stakes was the 53rd running of the

Preakness Preakness may refer to: * The Preakness or Preakness Stakes, an American flat thoroughbred horse race held in Baltimore, Maryland * Preakness (horse), an American thoroughbred racehorse from Preakness Stables * Preakness, New Jersey, a section of W ...

. The race took place on Friday, May 11, 1928, eight days before the

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year ...

making it the first leg of the U.S. Triple Crown series. A horse race for three-year-old

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

s, it carried a total purse of $71,370. It was run on a track rated fast in a final time of 2:00 1/5. Ridden by future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee

Raymond Workman Raymond "Sonny" Workman (May 24, 1909 – August 21, 1966) was an American National Champion and Hall of Fame jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing. During his fifteen years as a professional rider from 1926 through 1940, he won an exceptional tw ...

, Victorian won the race by a nose over runner-up Toro. Nassak, the betting favorite from the powerful

Rancocas Stable Rancocas Farm was an American thoroughbred horse racing stud farm and racing stable located on Monmouth Road ( County Road 537) in the Jobstown section of Springfield Township, Burlington County, New Jersey. Pierre Lorillard IV The farm was foun ...

finished a distant 11th. The fifth-place finisher,

Sun Beau Sun Beau (1925 – c.1943) was an American Thoroughbred Champion Hall of Fame racehorse. Background Sun Beau was sired by Sun Briar. His damsire was Fair Play, who sired Man o' War. Racing career Racing as a two-year-old in 1927, Sun Beau d ...

, went on to a brilliant racing career and was voted U.S. Champion Older Horse in three straight years culminating with his 1996 induction into the U.S.

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American Thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers. In 1955, the museum moved to its current location on Union Av ...

No Triple Crown attempt

The owners of the Preakness winner chose not to send the colt to

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

to compete in the May 19th

. The ''

Daily Racing Form The ''Daily Racing Form'' (DRF) (referred to as the ''Racing Form'' or "Form" and sometimes "telegraph" or "telly") is a tabloid newspaper founded in 1894 in Chicago, Illinois, by Frank Brunell. The paper publishes the past performances of race ...

'' reported that Victorian's owner made a statement by telephone saying the colt had gone through a very tough Preakness and did not do well after the race. Plans called for transporting Victorian to Belmont Park where he would run in the

Withers Stakes The Withers Stakes is a Graded stakes race, Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for three years old horses over the distance of miles on the dirt scheduled annually in February at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York (state), New York. T ...

if his trainer thought the colt was healthy. Victorian won the Withers Stakes.

Record crowd

The ''Daily Racing Form'' reported there was a record crowd in attendance on Preakness day which included notables such as

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

's Prince Ernest and Princess Marguerite de Ligne,

Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. Joseph Patrick Kennedy (September 6, 1888 – November 18, 1969) was an American businessman, investor, and politician. He is known for his own political prominence as well as that of his children and was the patriarch of the Irish-American Ke ...

, father of a future President of the United States, the British Ambassador Sir Esmé Howard,

Bernard Baruch Bernard Mannes Baruch (August 19, 1870 – June 20, 1965) was an American financier and statesman. After amassing a fortune on the New York Stock Exchange, he impressed President Woodrow Wilson by managing the nation's economic mobilization in ...

, George Saportas, and James Wood Colt, among others.

Maryland Governor The Governor of the State of Maryland is the head of government of Maryland, and is the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard units. The Governor is the highest-ranking official in the state and has a broad range of appointive powers ...

Albert Ritchie Albert Cabell Ritchie (August 29, 1876 – February 24, 1936) was an American lawyer and politician. A Democrat, he was the 49th governor of Maryland from 1920 to 1935. Ritchie was a conservative who campaigned for, but did not win, the preside ...

presented the

Woodlawn Vase The Woodlawn Vase is an American trophy given annually to the winning owner of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. Overview of the trophy After the Preakness Stakes is run each year on the third Saturday of May, t ...

James G. Rowe Jr. James Gordon Rowe Jr. (June 16, 1889 – October 21, 1931) was an American Thoroughbred horse trainer. Biography The son of U.S. Hall of Fame trainer James G. Rowe Sr., he initially planned to become a mechanical engineer and graduated from Ford ...

, the winning trainer who accepted it on behalf of the absent Harry Payne Whitney.

Death of scheduled Preakness rider

Twenty-five-year-old jockey Ovila Bourassa was scheduled to ride Solace in the 1928 Preakness. The colt, who would finish third, was owned by the Seagram Stables for whom jockey Bourassa had ridden

Sir Harry Sir Harry is the name given to nine different Thoroughbred racehorses Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for com ...

to a second-place finish in the

1927 Preakness Stakes The 1927 Preakness Stakes was the 52nd running of the $63,100 Preakness Stakes Thoroughbred horse race. The race took place on May 9, 1927, and was won by Bostonian who was ridden by Whitey Abel. The colt won the race by a half length over runn ...

. Three weeks prior to the running of the 1928 Preakness, the young jockey died from a

fractured skull A skull fracture is a break in one or more of the eight bones that form the cranial portion of the skull, usually occurring as a result of blunt force trauma. If the force of the impact is excessive, the bone may fracture at or near the site of t ...

after the saddle girth slipped on a horse he was breezing in the early morning hours at

Havre de Grace Racetrack The Havre de Grace Racetrack was an American horse racing track on Post Road in Havre de Grace, Harford County, Maryland. Nicknamed "The Graw," it operated from August 24, 1912, to 1950. For a time, it was owned by the Harford Agricultural and B ...

Havre de Grace, Maryland Havre de Grace (), abbreviated HdG, is a city in Harford County, Maryland, Harford County, Maryland. It is situated at the mouth of the Susquehanna River and the head of Chesapeake Bay. It is named after the port city of Le Havre, France, which ...

. A champion

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

, and very popular with his racing fraternity and race fans in the United States, Ovila Bourassa's death received wide coverage in newspapers in both countries. The ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' wrote that Bourassa "rode winners of many classics" and was "one of the best-known riders in the country". The ''

New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...

'' called him a "rider of great promise" and someone who was "in the first rank of riders." In his native Canada, the '' Calgary Daily Herald'' said Ovila Bourassa was "one of the outstanding figures in Canadian racing."

Payout

The 51st Preakness Stakes Payout Schedule

The full chart

''Daily Racing Form'' Charts ''Daily Racing Form'' May 11, 1928 Preakness Stakes results chart
Retrieved August 3, 2018 * Ŧ coupled and † coupled * Winning Breeder:

Harry Payne Whitney Harry Payne Whitney (April 29, 1872 – October 26, 1930) was an American businessman, thoroughbred horse breeder, and member of the prominent Whitney family. Early years Whitney was born in New York City on April 29, 1872, as the eldest son ...

; (KY) * Times: 1/4 mile – 23 2/5; 1/2 mile – 47 2/5; 3/4 mile – 1:13 0/0; mile – 1:38 4/5; 1 3/16 (final) – 2:00 1/5 * Track condition: fast

References

External links

* * '' Montreal La Presse'' newspaper photo of Ovila Bourassa

{{DEFAULTSORT:Preakness Stakes 1928 Preakness Stakes races, 1928 Pimlico Race Course 1928 in horse racing 1928 in American sports 1928 in sports in Maryland Horse races in Maryland