Changes were made to the Preakness Stakes. The purse was dropped to $50,000, a reduction of $25,000 from the previous year, and the date was moved to May 20.
Pimlico president Henry Parr III said the new date was chosen so that the Preakness would fall midway between the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, the other legs of the "so-called Triple Crown." There would be a period of two weeks separating each race, and this "ideal" circumstance occasioned Parr's decision to abandon the customary policy of having the Preakness on the final day of the spring meeting (late May), which would leave a three-week period between the Derby and Preakness. Parr said it "would prove too long a layoff for the nation's best 3-year-olds."
King Ranch's Middleground headed the list of nominations. However, two horses "of considerable merit" were not found on the list: the nation's 2-year-old champions, Christopher T. Chenery's Hill Prince and Alfred Vanderbilt's Bed o' Roses.
Hill Prince was eventually nominated, and won the Preakness, defeating Kentucky Derby winner Middleground, who came back to win the Belmont.
Racing at Hialeah in January yielded Maryland-bred winners with a connection to Alfred Vanderbilt's Sagamore Farm. One was Miss Disco. Described by Joe Palmer as "never a great mare," Miss Disco, owned by Sidney Shupper, "has been getting a chunk of it now and then for her five seasons on the track." In her most recent outing, the 6-year-old daughter of Discovery and the Pompey mare Outdone "carried top weight of 122 pounds, and won nicely. . ."
A stakes winner at 3 and 4, Miss Disco found greatness in her second career. Her Hialeah victory was her 10th and last from 54 starts. Bred that spring to Rosemont, she produced the winning filly Hill Rose in 1951, who produced multiple stakes winner True North. Miss Disco's next six foals included classic winner and champion Bold Ruler, one of the greatest sires in history, as well as additional stakes winners Independence and Nasco. Six of her seven daughters were stakes producers. She was named Broodmare of the Year in 1958.
Dr. John Gadd, long one of Maryland's foremost veterinarians, announced the sale of his veterinary hospital at Towson to have more time to devote to his large animal practice.
Gadd went on to become one of Maryland's most respected equine practitioners, particularly in the area of reproduction. For many years he conducted independent research into the problem of genital tract infections in mares, and he developed a "deep suture" operation widely used on problem mares. He died at 81 in 1988.
