2009 Preakness Stakes 2009 Preakness Stakes The 2009 Preakness Stakes was the 134th running of the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of horse racing's Triple Crown. The value of the race was $1,100,000 in stakes. The race was sponsored by BlackBerry and hence officially was called BlackBerry Preakness Stakes. The race took place on May 16, 2009. Post time was 6:19 p.m. EST and was televised in the United States on the NBC television networks. The Maryland Jockey Club reported total attendance of 77,850, this is recorded as third highest on the list of American thoroughbred racing top attended events for North America
2004 Belmont Stakes finishing second in both the Derby and Preakness. His owners had been disappointed in his Preakness performance though, feeling the horse would have done better if he had been closer to the pace. His jockey at the time, Hall of Famer Gary Stevens, disagreed and declined to ride the horse in the Belmont. "I wasn't about to... ride him in the Belmont if it meant following orders I couldn't live with", he said. Alex Solis picked up the mount. Purge was the third choice in the field after winning the Peter Pan Stakes, while Eddington was the next choice after