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Preakness to Feature the Woodlawn Vase, Sports' Priciest Trophy

Only a replica goes home with the Preakness winner.

Overview

  • The Woodlawn Vase will be presented in Baltimore to the Preakness Stakes winner, though the original remains in secure custody.
  • An appraisal set the Vase’s value at $1 million in 1983, which equals more than $4.3 million in today’s dollars.
  • Winners have taken home a one-third-size replica since before 1953 after the wife of Native Dancer’s owner declined responsibility for safeguarding the original.
  • Tiffany & Co. crafted the 36-inch sterling-silver trophy in 1860 for Louisville’s Woodlawn Racing Association, it later moved to New York and in 1917 became the Preakness trophy.
  • The original is on public display at the Baltimore Museum of Art, and Louisville museums show replicas as local officials highlight the trophy’s Kentucky roots.