Postal Service Honors Seabiscuit at 134 Preakness

Unveiling of Stamped Envelope for Great Horse

What:
The U.S. Postal Service will unveil a new 44-cent stamped envelope honoring the great horse Seabiscuit at the May 14 Alibi Breakfast Ceremony

Who:
Maryland Jockey Club
Harold Snyder, Honorary Postmaster for 134 Preakness Station
William L. Ridenour, Baltimore Postmaster, USPS

When:
Thursday, May 14, 2009

9:30 a.m.

Where:
Pimlico Race Course

5201 Park Heights Ave.
Baltimore, MD 21215

Background:
Since 1996 the Postal Service has participated in the Preakness, naming an Honorary Postmaster and opening a temporary Preakness station the week of Preakness. This year’s honoree will be Harold Snyder, owner of International Sound Company.

On May 11, 2009 the Postal Service will issue a 44-cent stamped envelope featuring the racehorse Seabiscuit. An unassuming champion, Seabiscuit raised the hopes and spirits of a beleaguered nation during the Great Depression with a series of unlikely victories.

Seabiscuit ran perhaps his greatest race against just a single horse: the 1937 Triple Crown winner War Admiral. Held on November 1, 1938, at Pimlico, the race drew around 40,000 spectators and was broadcast on the radio to 40 million listeners across the country, including President Franklin D. Roosevelt. War Admiral, the favorite to win, ran his fastest time at the track distance of 1 3/16 miles. However, Seabiscuit won the race by four lengths and set a blazing track record in the process.

After running his last race in March 1940, Seabiscuit retired to Howard’s Ridgewood Ranch in Willits, California. He died on May 17, 1947, and is buried at Ridgewood.

In honor of Seabiscuit, on May 14, 2009 at the Alibi Breakfast ceremony, the Postal Service will unveil the newly released 44-cent Seabiscuit stamped envelope.

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Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/welcome.htm.

An independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 149 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes, six days a week. It has 34,000 retail locations and relies on the sale of postage, products and services, not tax dollars, to pay for operating expenses. Named the Most Trusted Government Agency five consecutive years by the Ponemon Institute, the Postal Service has annual revenue of $75 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail.