Preakness Day is the biggest sports day in Maryland, with 112,222 on hand at Pimlico on Saturday. They enjoyed ideal racing weather, sunny skies, temperatures in the 70's, and a light breeze. There were 8 rich stakes on the undercard, 5 of which were graded, over the fast main track and good turf course.
The $250,000 Dixie Stakes (G2) featured 9 older horses going 1 1/8 miles on the turf. Shakis was the 11-10 favorite off a 6th place finish in the Maker's Mark, over Henry Clark winner Stay Close at 9-2 and allowance winner Distorted Reality at 5-1.
Ra Der Dean set a dawdling pace of 26.36, 51.71, and 1:16.24 while stalked by Stay Close and Salinja down the backstretch. Turning for home, Pays to Dream, who had raced at the back of the field for seven furlongs on a ground-saving trip, found room on the inside to pass tiring horses, then switched to the outside to challenge for the lead. Pays to Dream took over the lead at the 3/16 pole and drew off through the stretch to win by 7 1/2 lengths over Stay Close in 1:54.74 over the good turf course. It was just a head back to pacesetter Ra Der Deen third, while favorite Shakis was unhurried early but failed to rally, finishing fifth.
Full Results Chart
