Woodlawn Vase - Overview of The Trophy

Overview of The Trophy

After the Preakness Stakes is run each year on the third Saturday of May, the winners are awarded the Woodlawn Vase on national television. The vase was first awarded in 1861 to a stakes winning mare named Molly Jackson in Louisville, Kentucky. In 1917, the Woodlawn Vase became the official trophy for the winner of second jewel of the Triple Crown and was awarded to the Preakness winner Kalitan. For many years the trophy was given to the winning owner to keep for one year until the next running of the race. In 1953, Native Dancer won the Preakness Stakes and the wife of winning owner Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt II (Jeanne Murray Vanderbilt) declined to take annual possession of the trophy because of its monetary and sentimental value to the sport. Following 1953, the winning owner of the horse that won The Preakness Stakes was no longer allowed to keep the trophy for the year. In 1983, the trophy's silver design was appraised by Tiffany and Company of New York (the original creator in 1860) as priceless but a figure of $1,000,000 was established for insurance purposes. The appraised value is now reported to exceed $4,000,000.00 in replacement value. The original trophy is kept at the Baltimore Museum of Art in Maryland and brought to "The Preakness Stakes" each year escorted by Maryland Army National Guard Soldiers and Air National Guard Airmen in their dress uniforms donning white gloves for proper care during transportation to the "Old Hilltop's" cupola winner's circle for the presentation ceremony.