The 2020 Preakness Stakes was the 145th

Preakness Stakes The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on Armed Forces Day which is also the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs () on ...

, a Grade I stakes 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 at a distance of miles (1.9 km). The race is one leg of the

American Triple Crown In the United States, the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, commonly known as the Triple Crown, is a series of horse races for three-year-old Thoroughbreds, consisting of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes. The three r ...

and is held annually at

Pimlico Race Course Pimlico Race Course is a thoroughbred horse racetrack in Baltimore, Maryland, most famous for hosting the Preakness Stakes. Its name is derived from the 1660s when English settlers named the area where the facility currently stands in honor of Ol ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. The Preakness is regularly scheduled to be held on the third Saturday in May, two weeks after 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 ...

, but the 2020 running was rescheduled to Saturday, October 3, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. On September 2, it was announced that the race would be held without spectators, and it was won by filly

Swiss Skydiver Swiss Skydiver (foaled March 10, 2017) is a retired American champion Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2020 Preakness Stakes, only the sixth filly to win the second leg of the Triple Crown. She also won the 2020 Santa Anita Oaks, 2020 Alaba ...

in the second-fastest time ever.

Background

This was the first time since the 1945

Triple Crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Trip ...

races were affected by

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

that the event took place outside of its regular May schedule. With the

Belmont Stakes The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over 1.5 miles (2,400 m). Colts and geldings carry a weight of ; fillies carry . The race, nicknamed Th ...

run on June 20 and the

on September 5, the Preakness became the final leg of the 2020 Triple Crown. As different horses won the Belmont and the Kentucky Derby, it was established prior to the Preakness that there would be no Triple Crown winner in 2020. The race provided the winner with a berth in the

Breeders' Cup Classic The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade I Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race for 3-year-olds and older run at a distance of on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships in late October o ...

, held a month later on November 7. Per a decision by the

Maryland Jockey Club The Maryland Jockey Club is a sporting organization dedicated to horse racing, founded in Annapolis in 1743. The Jockey Club was founded more than 30 years before the start of the Revolutionary War and is chartered as the oldest sporting organizat ...

, "

Maryland, My Maryland "Maryland, My Maryland" was the state song of the U.S. state of Maryland from 1939 until 2021. The song is set to the melody of "Lauriger Horatius" — the same tune "O Tannenbaum" was taken from. The lyrics are from a nine-stanza poem written by ...

" was not played before the Preakness, as had been prior tradition—the song "which celebrates the Confederacy, is considered by some to be racist".

Field

On September 22, the owners of

winner

Tiz the Law Tiz the Law (foaled March 19, 2017) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2020 Belmont Stakes and Travers Stakes. He was the first New York-bred horse to win the Belmont since Forester in 1882. He also won the 2019 Champagne Stake ...

announced that he would not run in the Preakness. In his absence, the favorite was

Authentic Authenticity or authentic may refer to: * Authentication, the act of confirming the truth of an attribute Arts and entertainment * Authenticity in art, ways in which a work of art or an artistic performance may be considered authentic Music * A ...

, the winner of the

and

Haskell Invitational The Haskell Stakes is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run over a distance of miles on the dirt held annually in July at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, New Jersey. The event is a signature event at Monmouth ...

. When entries were taken on September 28, Authentic drew post position 9 in a field of eleven. Key rivals were: *

Art Collector A private collection is a privately owned collection of works (usually artworks) or valuable items. In a museum or art gallery context, the term signifies that a certain work is not owned by that institution, but is on loan from an individual ...

– winner of the

Blue Grass Stakes The Blue Grass Stakes, currently the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes due to sponsorship by the Toyota Motor Corporation, is a horse race for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds held annually in April at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Kentucky. The race is run ...

and the

Ellis Park Derby The Ellis Park Derby is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Ellis Park Race Course in Henderson, Kentucky. Inaugurated in 2018, in 2020 it became a qualifying race for the Kentucky Derby with the winner receiving 50 points on th ...

* Thousand Words – winner of the Shared Belief Stakes *

– winner of the

Alabama Stakes The Alabama Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race open to three-year-old fillies. Inaugurated in 1872, the Grade I race is run over a distance of one and one-quarter miles on the dirt track at Saratoga Race Course. Held in mid August, it cu ...

, second in the

and

Kentucky Oaks The Kentucky Oaks is a Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred Filly, fillies staged annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. The race currently covers at Churchill Downs; the horses carry . The Kentucky O ...

* Mr. Big News – third in the Kentucky Derby

Results

Source:

Payout

* $1 Exacta (4–9) $37.80 * $1 Trifecta (4–9–6) $1,205.70 * $1 Superfecta (4–9–6–3) $5,053.00 * $1 Super High Five (4–9–6–3–8) $64,812.60 Times: mile – 0:24.48; mile – 0:47.65; mile – 1:11.24; mile – 1:34.74; final – 1:53.28.
Splits for each quarter-mile: (:24.48) (:23.17) (:23.59) (:23.50) (:18.54 for final ) Source:

Notes

References

External links

*
Preakness Stakes 2020: Swiss Skydiver becomes sixth filly to win in 145 runnings
from

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its d ...

via

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Preakness Stakes, 2020

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

2020 in horse racing 2020 in American sports October 2020 sports events in the United States Horse races in Maryland 2020 in sports in Maryland Sports events postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic