The fascinating history of this New Jersey golf course carrying on the ‘Preakness’ name

On Saturday, the 151st running of the Preakness Stakes will take place at Laurel Park in Maryland. The story of the race’s name, however, all started in New Jersey, where a golf club that carries on its name turns 100 this year.

Preakness Hills Country Club in Wayne, N.J., opened in 1926, 53 years after the first running of the Preakness Stakes, which was named by former Maryland governor Oden Bowie. Bowie named the race in honor of a colt named Preakness, who was owned by American businessman, lawyer and owner and breeder of Thoroughbred racehorses Milton Holbrook Sanford.

Holbrook Sanford established a Thoroughbred horse racing and breeding operation called the Preakness Stud on farmlands in the Preakness section of Wayne, where the legend of the Preakness colt was born. Preakness won the inaugural running of the Dixie Stakes, which was then known as the Dinner Party Stakes, in 1870 on the opening day of the Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md., upsetting a heavily-favored colt called Foster. Pimlico, where the Preakness Stakes is normally held, is currently under reconstruction, hence why it is being held at Laurel Park in 2026.

The Preakness name dates even farther back than the breeding operation and the horse, however. The surrounding neighborhood of “Preakness” in Wayne takes its name from the Native American Minisi term “Pre-qua-les,” meaning “quail woods.” That name was recorded as early as 1776-1777, when George Washington referred to the area as “Preckiness” during his winter encampments in Morris Country. That is the origin of the Preakness name and the Preakness section of Wayne, later leading to the name of Holbrook Sanford’s horse stable, the colt, the race and the country club itself.

@cpowers141 A history lesson for those interested about the Preakness Stakes, where it gets its name, and the country club named after it. What New Jersey makes, the world takes #golf #history #horse #preakness #golftiktok ♬ original sound - ChrissyDoes

This year the Preakness Hills Country Club is celebrating its centennial, and in honor of that milestone the club has introduced a secondary logo of a jockey on a race horse. The logo's main colors are white, yellow and dark blue (dark blue was Holbrook Sanford's racing color). Alternate logos are a classic new feature at many country clubs, and this one perfectly honors the club’s—and the surrounding area’s—fascinating history. So when you’re watching the second leg of the Triple Crown this Saturday, perhaps after watching third-round coverage of the PGA Championship, just remember it all started with a horse from Wayne, N.J., where a 100-year-old club carries its name.