This year’s Preakness Stakes will be the last time it’s run at Pimlico Race Course before the track undergoes massive renovations. While the race won’t feature the Kentucky Derby winner, it will pay out as large a purse as the course has ever seen.

Here’s everything you need to know about the second jewel of the Triple Crown:

When is the Preakness Stakes?

The first races begin at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday and run well into the evening. The post time for the main event, the Preakness Stakes, which is the penultimate race, is approximately 6:50 p.m. It’s a full day of horse racing broadcast on NBC and streamed on Peacock.

How are Preakness horses chosen?

In most cases, the Kentucky Derby winner will enter the field for a shot at the coveted Triple Crown. That won’t be the case this year, with Sovereignty bowing out of this year’s Preakness for fear of too tight a turnaround time.

The post position draw takes place Monday, so we’ll know that evening what this year’s field looks like. But generally speaking, the Preakness Stakes is limited to 14 horses, all based on performances in recent major prep races, including but not limited to the Derby.

How much money does the winner get?

The total purse this year is $2 million, tying the Pimlico Race Course record set in 2024. Standard protocol is 60% goes to the winner and the rest is divided among second-through-fifth-place finishers. The horse’s owner will take home the biggest chunk, shelling out a portion to trainers and jockeys. (Imagine what a horse would buy with all that cash.)

How did the Preakness start?

In the summer of 1868, a group of horse owners gathered for dinner in Saratoga Springs, New York, after a full day of races. They had such a good time (relatable) that John Hunter proposed they run a commemorative horse race in the fall of 1870. It would be for 3-year-old thoroughbreds and they’d call it the Dinner Party Stakes. Genius. Oden Bowie, Maryland’s post-Civil War governor, encouraged they put $15,000 on the line and have his home state host. He even promised to build a new racetrack, which would become Pimlico. The winner of the inaugural Dinner Party Stakes? A horse named Preakness.

How long is the Preakness?

There are two answers to this. The Preakness runs from about 9 a.m. until shortly after 7 p.m. But the Preakness Stakes, the specific race folks travel in from all over the world to see, takes about two minutes. The race in Baltimore is the shortest of the Triple Crown at 1 3/16 of a mile, a tad shorter than the Kentucky Derby’s 1 1/4-mile race.

Churchill Downs president Matt Winn is credited with coining the phrase, “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports.”

Who are the most recent winners of the Preakness?

Seize the Grey won in 2024. The year before was National Treasure, then Early Voting (2022), Rombauer (2021), Swiss Skydive (2020), War of Will (2019) and Justify (2018). Justify is the last horse to win the Triple Crown, racing for trainer Bob Baffert, a two-time Triple Crown winner and the all-time leader in Preakness Stakes wins (8).

What horse holds the record for the fastest time at the Preakness?

In 1973, Secretariat won the Preakness Stakes in 1:53 (part of a Triple Crown that set course records at all three major races). The timer on that fateful May day clocked Secretariat at 1:55, a second shy of the then-record. It wasn’t until June 19, 2012, when the Maryland Race Commission, having reviewed witness accounts, three-plus hours of personal testimony and 21st-century technology, retroactively awarded Secretariat the record.

https://www.baltimoresun.com/2025/05/12/preakness-2025-redirect/

What is this year’s entertainment?

Event organizers are bypassing the traditional infield concert and instead featuring a redesigned stage viewable from the grandstand. The new setup will be in the open space north of the cupola, beneath the LED board, rather than facing the infield crowd.

The new “Infield Fan Zone,” which includes unlimited beer and wine, will be hosted by Ravens legend Ray Lewis. The design can accommodate approximately 3,000 spectators within a 22,000-square-foot covered tent.

T-Pain and Wyclef Jean will headline the entertainment. The Grammy winners’ trackside performances on Saturday will anchor a slimmed-down version of Preakness’ typical race-day entertainment. T-Pain will take the stage immediately after the final race. It will be the “Buy U A Drank” singer’s third time performing in Baltimore in recent years. Jean will “perform a multi-song live set, including one of his greatest hits” that will also be included in the national NBC broadcast.

Is this the last Preakness at Pimlico?

Sort of. Pimlico is set to receive a massive overhaul soon after the Preakness. Upgrades to the track are expected to cost $400 million, paid by state bonds, and will be ready to host the Preakness in May 2027. The second jewel of the Triple Crown will relocate to nearby Laurel Park in 2026 while the new facility is built.

Demolition of the track and its adjoining structures is expected to begin later this month. The oval track at Pimlico will not be rotated or moved from its current alignment during the renovations.

What’s a Black-Eyed Susan?

A plant, a horse race and a cocktail — the big three.

The Rudbeckia hirta — the plant’s scientific name — resembles a sunflower with its bright-yellow petals. It’s the official state flower of Maryland. The horse race is for 3-year-old fillies on Friday, a prelude to the Preakness. The cocktail — which is consumed in great quantities every third weekend of May — is equal parts bourbon, vodka and peach schnapps. It has orange juice, sour mix, an orange slice and cherry for garnish.

What do people wear to the Preakness?

Generally, something fun. Something that you wouldn’t wear any other day of the year. Something with colors that can be seen from outer space.

Preakness patrons lean into monochromatic pastel tones with bold silhouettes. Horse racing is known for its eccentric hats that look more like a sculpture on your head. Comfortable dress shoes are a worthwhile gamble, accenting the tone of the outfit with the rationale of a day spent walking around (sometimes through mud).

So, wear something crazy then watch it take up space in your closet until next year.

How’s the weather looking for the Preakness?

Saturday’s forecast is mostly sunny with a high near 89 degrees and a 50% chance of showers, according to the National Weather Service. There is a chance of thunderstorms.

Recent Preakness winners

2024: Seize the Grey

2023: National Treasure

2022: Early Voting

2021: Rombauer

2020: Swiss Skydiver

2019: War of Will

2018: Justify

2017: Cloud Computing

2016: Exaggerator

2015: American Pharoah

2014: California Chrome

2013: Oxbow

2012: I’ll Have Another

2011: Shackleford

2010: Lookin At Lucky

2009: Rachel Alexandra

2008: Big Brown

2007: Curlin

2006: Bernardini

2005: Afleet Alex

2004: Smarty Jones

2003: Funny Cide

2002: War Emblem

2001: Point Given

2000: Red Bullet

Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn.

By MELISSA GOLDIN

President Donald Trump incorrectly placed the blame for high prescription drug prices in the U.S. on foreign nations, making the comments Monday when signing an executive order intended to lower their cost.

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The order sets a 30-day deadline for drugmakers to electively lower prices in the U.S. or face new limits in the future over what the government will pay. If favorable deals are not reached, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be tasked with developing a new rule that ties prices the U.S. pays for medications to lower prices paid by other countries.

Here’s a closer look at the facts.

CLAIM: “We were subsidizing others’ healthcare, the countries where they pay a small fraction of what — for the same drug that what we pay, many, many times more for, and will no longer tolerate profiteering and price gouging from Big Pharma. But again, it was really the countries that forced Big Pharma to do things that frankly, I’m not sure they really felt comfortable doing. But they’ve gotten away with it, these countries. European Union has been brutal, brutal.”

THE FACTS: This is misleading. Prices for most prescription drugs — unbranded generics are the exception — are higher in the U.S. than they are in other high-income countries. But, experts say, it is in large part the way drug prices are negotiated in the U.S. that drives up costs.

“There are structural differences in the way that we price drugs in the United States and in the way that other developed, industrialized countries price drugs,” said Mariana Socal, an associate professor of health policy and management at the Johns Hopkins University who studies the U.S. pharmaceutical market. “And those differences really are the ones that account for these differences in price that we see at the end of the day.”

A 2024 report published by the RAND research organization found, using 2022 data, that prices in the U.S. were 2.78 times higher than those in 33 comparable countries across all drugs. Brand-name drugs represented the largest gap. The U.S. made up 62% of sales out of $989 billion of total drug spending among the countries studied, according to the report, but only 24% of volume.

According to experts, drug companies in the U.S. are generally able to price medications higher in the U.S. because the country’s drug market operates as a fragmented system where companies negotiate with individual insurers or pharmacy benefit managers, commonly known as PBMs. Many countries with lower costs have one regulatory agency that negotiates prices on behalf of the entire population, a significant bargaining chip given that drug companies can’t divide and conquer as they can in the U.S. If a regulator walks away, the company loses out on profits entirely — in other words, something is better than nothing.

“Anything you can do to kind of bring more bargaining power to the table against the drug companies by making a decision for more beneficiaries, or more patients, that’s going to put more downward pressure on drug prices,” said Courtney Yarbrough, an assistant professor of health policy and management at Emory University.

As it stands, drug costs in the U.S. and other countries are not directly linked, though they can affect each other. Trump’s executive order establishes a “most favored nation” pricing model should drugmakers not voluntarily lower costs. This means that the U.S. would peg the cost of prescription drugs to the lowest prices in comparably developed countries. It’s unclear what — if any — impact the order will have on millions of Americans who have private health insurance. The federal government has the most power to shape the price it pays for drugs covered by Medicare and Medicaid.

But the U.S. paying less for prescription drugs doesn’t mean other countries will automatically pay more. For example, Yarbrough explained that instead of agreeing to higher prices, other countries could simply enter into secret arrangements for increased discounts and then hide what they actually pay.

“We’re not in a static global pharmaceutical market,” she said.

Manufacturers, wholesalers, PBMs and other members of the supply chain also have a motivation to maximize profits, not lower costs for consumers. In this spirit, manufacturers often use patents to make it impossible for cheaper versions of drugs to come to market. Although he repeatedly defended pharmaceutical companies at Monday’s news conference, Trump simultaneously threatened the companies with federal investigations into their practices.

“There are no saints in this industry, these are all for-profit companies,” said Geoffrey Joyce, director of health policy at the University of Southern California’s Schaeffer Center. “Their incentives are all wrong. Everybody makes more money off of higher list prices, so they just push list prices up.”

Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck.

By ALEX VEIGA, AP Business Writer

The average rate on a 30-year mortgage in the U.S. edged above 6.8% this week, returning to where it was just three weeks ago.

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The rate increased to 6.81% from 6.76% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 7.02%.

Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, also rose. The average rate ticked up to 5.92% from 5.89% last week. It’s down from 6.28% a year ago, Freddie Mac said.

Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, including global demand for U.S. Treasurys, the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy decisions and bond market investors’ expectations about the economy and inflation.

The average rate on a 30-year mortgage has remained relatively close to its high so far this year of just above 7%, which it set in mid-January. The average rate’s low point so far was five weeks ago, when it briefly dropped to 6.62%.

The elevated mortgage rates, which can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, have discouraged home shoppers, leading to a lackluster start to the spring homebuying season, even as the inventory of homes on the market is up sharply from last year. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell in March, posting the largest monthly drop since November 2022.

The recent swings in mortgage rates reflect volatility in the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans.

State leaders have agreed to a “phased closure” of the Stillwater state prison.

A statement from Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell said the effort would “consolidate the state’s prison facilities to enhance the DOC’s economic efficiency, to end state investments into the crumbling infrastructure” at the facility and “to minimize the ongoing health and safety concerns the facility presents to both staff and the incarcerated population.”

The maximum security facility for adult male felons dates back to 1851, though the original facility was replaced in 1914 due to overcrowding. There are currently 1,171 inmates at the prison.

A press conference with corrections officials is scheduled for Thursday where more information is expected to be provided. Return to twincities.com for updates.

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