1928 Preakness Stakes

The 1928 Preakness Stakes was the 53rd running of the Preakness. The race took place on Friday, May 11, 1928, eight days before the Kentucky Derby making it the first leg of the U.S. Triple Crown series. A horse race for three-year-old thoroughbreds, 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, Victorian won the race by a nose over runner-up Toro. Nassak, the betting favorite from the powerful Rancocas Stable finished a distant 11th. The fifth-place finisher, Sun Beau, 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.[1][2]

53rd Preakness Stakes
The Preakness Stakes
LocationPimlico Race Course
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
DateMay 11, 1928 (1928-05-11)
Distance1 3⁄16 mi (9.5 furlongs; 1,900 m)
Winning horseVictorian
Winning time2:00 1/5
Final odds9.35-1
JockeyRaymond Workman
TrainerJames G. Rowe Jr.
OwnerHarry Payne Whitney
ConditionsFast
SurfaceDirt

No Triple Crown attempt

The owners of the Preakness winner chose not to send the colt to Louisville, Kentucky to compete in the May 19th Kentucky Derby. The Daily Racing Form 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 if his trainer thought the colt was healthy.[3] Victorian won the Withers Stakes.[4]

Record crowd

The Daily Racing Form reported there was a record crowd in attendance on Preakness day which included notables such as Belgium's Prince Ernest and Princess Marguerite de Ligne, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., father of a future President of the United States, the British Ambassador Sir Esmé Howard, Bernard Baruch, George Saportas, and James Wood Colt, among others.

Maryland Governor Albert Ritchie presented the Woodlawn Vase to James G. Rowe Jr., 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 to a second-place finish in the 1927 Preakness Stakes. Three weeks prior to the running of the 1928 Preakness, the young jockey died from a fractured skull after the saddle girth slipped on a horse he was breezing in the early morning hours at Havre de Grace Racetrack in Havre de Grace, Maryland.

A champion Canadian jockey, 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 wrote that Bourassa "rode winners of many classics" and was "one of the best-known riders in the country".[5] The New York Daily News called him a "rider of great promise" and someone who was "in the first rank of riders."[6] In his native Canada, the Calgary Daily Herald said Ovila Bourassa was "one of the outstanding figures in Canadian racing."[7]

Payout

The 51st Preakness Stakes Payout Schedule

Program
Number		 Horse Name
Win
Place
Show
7 Victorian $20.70 $10.20 $7.50
8 Toro - $22.00 $14.20
3 Solace - - $19.50

The full chart

Daily Racing Form Charts[8]

Finish
Position		 Margin
(lengths)		 Post
Position		 Horse name Jockey Trainer Owner Post Time
Odds		 Earnings
1st 0 7 Victorian Raymond Workman James G. Rowe Jr. Harry Payne Whitney 9.35-1 $60,000
2nd NO 8 Toro Eddie Ambrose John F. Schorr Edward Beale McLean 21.70-1 $5,000
3rd 2​1⁄2 3 Solace Leslie Pichon William H. Bringloe Seagram Stables 37.25-1 $3,000
4th 3 4 Strolling Player George Fields Robert A. Smith Salubria Stable 4.55-1 † $2,000
5th HD 6 Sun Beau John Craigmyle Charles W. Carroll Willis Sharpe Kilmer 17.85-1
6th 6 17 Penalo Willie Kelsay Robert A. Smith Lawrence Waterbury II 15.55-1 Ŧ
7th HD 14 Typhoon Louis Schaefer H. Guy Bedwell Kenton Farm stable 21.30-1
8th 4 1 Bateau Fred Stevens Scott P. Harlan Walter M. Jeffords, Sr. 25.35-1
9th ​1⁄2 12 Distraction Danny McAuliffe George Tappen Wheatley Stable 11.35-1
10th NK 13 Don Q. Pete Walls Joseph H. Stotler Sagamore Stable 61.35-1
11th NK 9 Nassak Laverne Fator Sam Hildreth Rancocas Stable 2.35-1
12th 1​1⁄2 11 Sortie Clarence Kummer Max Hirsch A. Charles Schwartz 15.55-1 Ŧ
13th 1 15 Bobashela Herb Fisher S. Miller Henderson Audley Farm Stable 4.55-1 †
14th 1​1⁄2 10 Friar's Hope Edgar Barnes James S. Butler Mrs. J. Simpson Dean 143.95-1
15th 1 16 Knapsack Steve O'Donnell William M. Garth Salubria Stable 4.55-1 †
16th 1​1⁄2 2 Oh Say Anthony Pascuma Albert B. Gordon Fair Stable 92.65
17th ​1⁄2 18 Petee-Wrack Mack Garner Willie Booth John R. Macomber 18.65
18th 8 5 Brooms Harvey Elston Gwyn R. Tompkins Brookmeade Stable 18.85
  • Ŧ coupled and † coupled
  • Winning Breeder: Harry Payne Whitney; (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
  1. Daily Racing Form May 12, 1928 article titled "Victorian Wins Preakness" Retrieved August 03, 2018
  2. Sun Beau at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame Retrieved August 15, 2018
  3. Daily Racing Form May 15, 1928 article titled "Victorian's Derby Status: Reasons Why Preakness Winner Will Not Be Shipped to Louisville for Famous Race" Retrieved August 03, 2018
  4. Daily Racing Form May 21, 1928 article titled "Victorian Triumphs: Preakness Stakes Winner Accounts for Withers Stakes" Retrieved August 03, 2018
  5. New York Times April 18, 1928 article titled "Jockey Bourassa Dies After Fall" Retrieved July 23, 2018
  6. New York Daily News, April 28, 2018 Retrieved July 20, 2018
  7. Calgary Daily Herald – April 18, 1928 Retrieved July 23, 2018
  8. Daily Racing Form May 11, 1928 Preakness Stakes resullts chart Retrieved August 3, 2018
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