Tradition is defined by Webster's Dictionary as "an inherited, established or customary pattern of thought, action or behavior."

I thought about tradition a few times recently. The first time was May 2, as I watched my co-worker laboring over mint juleps on the day of the Kentucky Derby, crushing the ice by hand, hand-picking the mint, muddling the sugar cubes - it took most of his time to make four or five drinks. As a result of his mint julep monopoly, I had to make the rest of the drinks for the restaurant, a ratio of about 10 to 1 if my memory and math still serve me.

The second time was Cinco de Mayo, as I shook margaritas after margarita until my elbows hurt. Then Mother's Day rolled around with its attendant Ramos fizzes and mimosas; the mimosas aren't so bad but gin, cream and raw egg quickly makes for a sticky service area, especially after making about 100 or so.

So it was with these events and Webster's sage words on tradition that I am bracing for the Preakness Stakes on May 16, the middle leg of horse racing's triple crown and the one that determines whether or not there will be a triple crown winner (if the winner of the Kentucky Derby doesn't win the Preakness, then the point is moot).

The Kentucky Derby has been run at the racetrack at Churchill Downs since its inception in 1875; the track was officially incorporated as Churchill Downs in 1937.

The Preakness Stakes, by tradition, is run at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. The Stakes began in

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1873 at Pimlico, but in 1890 it moved to the Morris Park Racecourse in New York before being canceled for three years (the Belmont Stakes were also held there until 1909). It then moved to Coney Island's Gravesend Race track until 1909, returning to Pimlico in 1910.

At the Kentucky Derby, one drinks mint juleps, made with Kentucky whisky, sugar, mint, crushed ice and soda water, a recipe relatively unchanged for more than 100 years.

At the Preakness Stakes, one might drink a Black-eyed Susan (named for the flowers adorning the wreath of the winner) made these days with vodka, whisky, sweet and sour, orange juice and garnished with an orange slice and a cherry, which is different from the '80s version that included vodka, light rum, peach schnapps, orange juice, pink grapefruit juice and pineapple juice. An earlier version used vodka, light rum, triple sec, pineapple juice, orange juice and a lime wedge, and an even earlier version used Grand Marnier, white creme de menthe and brandy. All of which are different from the earliest "traditional" cocktail of the Preakness, named not unusually the Preakness cocktail, which mixed blended Scotch whisky, sweet vermouth, Benedictine and Angostura Bitters, a truly vile concoction if I've heard of one.

All this tradition brings to mind the words spoken by Friedrich Nietzsche in 1878:

"Tradition grows ever more venerable - the more remote its origin, the more confused the origin is. The reverence due to it increases from generation to generation, until it becomes holy and inspires awe."

Ol' Freddy seems to have left out the part regarding the actual verifiable accuracy involved in said traditions.

Jeff Burkhart is an award-winning bartender at a Marin bar/restaurant and an author. His columns appear weekly in Here. Contact him at jeffb@thebarflyonline.com.

The new official "traditional" Black-eyed Susan of the Preakness Stakes

3/4 ounce 42 Below vodka

1 1/4 ounce Early Times Kentucky whisky (see note)

3 ounces sweet and sour

2 ounces orange juice

Orange slice

1 maraschino cherry

Plastic souvenir stir stick

Plastic souvenir cup

Combine first four ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake to combine. Pour into plastic cup and garnish with cherry, orange and plastic stirrer. Sip while resting assured that your minimum $25 ticket for the approximately two-minute race is only compounded by the cost of your "classic" drink. At least you'll have a plastic cup and stirrer to remember it by, because the race will probably be over two sips into your cocktail.

Note: Early Times Kentucky whisky, an official ingredient in the Kentucky Derby's official mint julep and the official Black-eyed Susan of the Preakness, is no longer a bourbon whiskey. It is now aged in used charred oak barrels for less than the legally required time for bourbon. Early Times Straight Bourbon whiskey is still made, but, ironically, it is not available here in the traditional and legal home of bourbon, the United States - proving that tradition is not always what it seems.