Preakness Stakes by the numbers

The Preakness Stakes has been an annual tradition since 1873, when a curious crowd of 12,000 spectators first assembled at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland to cheer on a field of seven Thoroughbred horses. Much has changed in the world of racing since then, but the second jewel of the Triple Crown is still just as tantalizing as ever.

Get ready for the 145th running of the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, Oct. 3 with this collection of scintillating stats and facts about "The Run for the Black-Eyed Susans."

0: The numbers of times the Preakness Stakes has been run on a Sunday. The race has been run on every other day of the week at some point in its history.

1: Number of times the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes have been held on the same day at the same track. The strange scheduling quirk occurred for the first – and last – time in 1890.

1.1875: Length, in miles, of the Preakness Stakes.

3: Number of consecutive times jockey Pat Day won the Preakness stakes from 1994-to-1996.

5: Number of fillies that have won the Preakness Stakes. The exclusive list includes Flocarline (1903), Whimsical (1906), Rhine Maiden (1915), Nellie Morse (1924), and Rachel Alexandra (2009).

6: Number of record-setting Preakness Stakes victories by hall of fame jockey Eddie Arcaro.

7: Number of different distances the Preakness Stakes has been run at over the years. The shortest distance was 1 mile in 1909 and 1910.

9: Number of Preakness winners who have sired future Preakness winners.

11: Number of times the Preakness Stakes was held before the Kentucky Derby from 1888-to-1931.

13: Number of petals on a Black-eyed Susan. The flower was adopted by the Preakness Stakes because Maryland was one of America’s first 13 colonies.

97: Number of Preakness Stakes winners who were bred in Kentucky.

1,000: Amount, in dollars, of the first purse for the Preakness Stakes in 1873. Today, the purse is $1.5 million.

140,000: Number of horse racing fans who attended Preakness Day in 2017. It remains a single day record for the event.

4,000,000: Appraised value, in dollars, of the Woodlawn Vase, which is awarded annually to the winning owner of the Preakness Stakes. The trophy is made of solid sterling silver and is 36 inches tall and weighs 400 ounces.