How to Preakness

What is Preakness you ask? For some attendees it is an all-day music festival in Baltimore surrounded by horses that happen to be racing on the track around you, while others see it as an all-day betting event where one dresses fancy, sits inside at a nice restaurant and drinks Black-Eyed Susan’s.  Technically speaking  though, the Preakness Stakes is the second race of the Triple Crown. The Triple Crown title is given to a three-year-old thoroughbred horse that manages to win the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes in the span of just 5 weeks. The most recent Triple Crown Winner was Justify in 2018 and all eyes were on him during Preakness last year. This year, not so much as the winner of the Kentucky Derby, Country House, did not race due to illness. The tickets for the Preakness Stakes are anywhere from $40-$720 depending on the type of experience you desire. For me, I just stick to the infieldfest. 

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Infieldfest is known for drinking, loud music, mud fights and racing on top of port-a-potties. 

What to wear to the Preakness Infieldfest? Anything. Ornothing at all. There were females in high heels, long dresses and obnoxious hats all the way down to a male running around in a swimsuit with his shoes and shirt off. I’m pretty sure he walked in like that. Fortunately, or unfortunately, this year it did not rain and was not muddy. For the first time in the four years I’ve gone. The forecast said it was supposed to be overcast all day but my sunburn says otherwise.

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Each year Preakness has an infieldfest consisting of food, alcohol, live performers and betting. This year, Frank Walker, Juice Wrld, Fisher, Kygo, Diplo and Logic performed on the main stage. The gates open at 9am, that is when the drinks start flowing. The actual Preakness Stakes race is the 13^th race of the day out of 14 total races. There have been a few memes going around from this year’s race but not of the 2019 Preakness titleholder War of Will. No. It is in fact of the riderless horse called Bodexpress. 

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Bodexpress kicked his jockey off at the start of the race then continued to race by himself. He was off to the right a bit but he did manage to pass two other horses at one point. He finished the race and kept going but the race officials marked him down as “DNF.” Unfortunately that means that any bets on him winning did not get reimbursed. The jockey, John Velzquez, was uninjured after being thrown from Bodexpress. But this does remind all jockeys about the importance of wearing a helmet…. Just as Mike describes in the video below! 

https://youtu.be/Du-FtixXt80

Tip #1: Do not buy the VIP ticket.
It only includes an “elevated stage” to watch the performers which means you cannot be as close to stage as you want but hey, at least you have a small stage to share with 100 of your closest friends… The VIP ticket costs the most money for no bottomless beer, no bottomless wine, a private bar where you still have to pay for your drinks and two private restrooms, one for each gender. Not worth it to me, I got it last year and was not impressed. 

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Tip #2: Get the Mug and Vine Club ticket.
This ticket is worth it in my opinion. It is only slightly more expensive than Mug Club but you get bottomless wine and bottomless beer. You also get multiple private restrooms, a large tent to escape the heat, TV’s to watch the horse races, smaller lines for beer.

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Tip #3: Do not Pre-game.
If you get buy a mug club ticket or a mug and vine club ticket: pre-gaming = bad idea. Mug Club includes bottomless beer while Mug and Vine club includes bottomless beer and wine. You will get sloshed without taking shots before you arrive, I promise.

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They have not announced the lineup for next year’s artists but Preakness will be Saturday May 16^th, mark your calendars now!