BALTIMORE, MD — The U.S. Postal Service will unveil the new 44-cent stamped envelope honoring the great horse Seabiscuit at the May 14 Alibi Breakfast Ceremony. The event is being held at the Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, MD and begins at 9:30 am.

Since 1996 the Postal Service has participated in the Preakness ceremonies, naming Honorary Postmasters and opening temporary Preakness stations the week of Preakness. This year’s honoree will be Harold Snyder, owner of International Sound Company.

On May 11, 2009 the Postal Service issued the 44-cent stamped envelope featuring the race horse Seabiscuit. An unassuming champion, he 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.

How to Order the First-Day-of-Issue Postmark
Customers have 60 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at their local Post Office, at The Postal Store website at www.usps.com/shop, or by calling 1-800-STAMP-24. They should affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes, to themselves or others, and place them in a larger envelope addressed to:

Seabiscuit Stamped Envelope
Teresa Johnson
30 West Pershing Road, #12
Kansas City, MO 64108-9998

After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, the Postal Service will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark. All orders must be postmarked by July 13, 2009.

How to Order First-Day Covers
Stamp Fulfillment Services also offers first-day covers for new stamp issues and Postal Service stationery items postmarked with the official first-day-of-issue cancellation. Each item has an individual catalog number and is offered in the quarterly USA Philatelic catalog. Customers may request a free catalog by calling 1-800-STAMP-24 or writing to:

Information Fulfillment
Dept. 6270
U.S. Postal Service
P.O. Box 219014
Kansas City, MO 64121-9014

Philatelic Products
There are six philatelic products available for this stamp issue:

• 218561*, First-Day Cover, $0.64
• 218661*, First-Day Cover, $0.64
• 218761*, First-Day Cover, $0.64
• 218861*, First-Day Cover, $0.64
• 264861*, First-Day Cover, $0.64
• 264961*, First-Day Cover, $0.64

Items with an asterisk (*) will use the 128 barcode from Stamp Fulfillment Services. All other philatelic products will continue to use barcode series A, with the exception of the Yearbook and the Guide Book.

High –resolution images of the stamped envelope are available for media use by emailing roy.a.bettes@usps.gov.

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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.