In Jackie's honor, since we've had the Kentucky Derby and are coming up Saturday on the Preakness, second jewel in the American racing crown, some interesting (or so I thought) info. I heard this afternoon on NPR.

The Preakness is named for a horse. (Only horse race I ever heard of named for a horse, of all things.) Maryland governor Oden Bowie was attending the races at Saratoga (New York) in the early 1860's and enjoyed himself so much he thought it would be a good idea to have a big race in Maryland. A couple years later the Maryland Jockey Club (consisting not of jockeys, but by wealthy gentlemen who rode in foxhunts and steeplechases for fun) bought an estate with a horse racing track north of Baltimore. The estate was named Pimlico by its owner, who was from London. (Since Baltimore expanded its boundaries in 1918, Pimlico has been within the city limits.) They started a race in 1866 which they named the Dinner Party Stakes. After Preakness won in 1867, they named the race for him.

One of the original investors in Pimlico was Peter Lorillard, a wealthy New Yorker, who, incidentally, was the inventor of the tuxedo. In 1870, the U.S. Congress adjourned for the day and got on the train to Baltimore to attend the Preakness. There were a number of horses entered by Kentucky owners, and Lorrilard brought down from New Jersey a really sorry looking plug which everyone laughed at. He took all bets which anyone offered. Of course, his horse won, he made another fortune, and the Kentuckians lost their shirts. [Sorry, Jackie.]