A new Pimlico for the Old Line state

By Alicia Hughes

Walk through the grounds of the antiquated racetrack situated on Park Heights Avenue in Baltimore and one will be inundated with reminders of the dual role the vaunted venue has held for the better part of the last decade. 

Known to the public as the home of one of the most treasured jewels in Thoroughbred racing, Pimlico Race Course has also served as a microcosm for the perilous situation one of Maryland’s signature industries faced in recent times. Unmistakable in its history and contributions, it has also been achingly in need of support and restoration. And while it is a hallmark of the community it resides in, its relationship with its neighbors – much like its foundations – also needed a massive overhaul.

On May 17, the track known as Old Hilltop will host the 150th edition of its flagship race when the Preakness Stakes, the middle leg of the American Triple Crown, is contested one last time in its current incarnation. Shortly thereafter, a complete reconstruction will get underway, one that will transform both the physical structure and, pundits hope, the overall well-being of the state’s Thoroughbred racing product.

After years of uncertainty surrounding the future of Maryland racing, a wave of optimism has washed over many who rely on the industry for their livelihood thanks to a sweeping plan approved by Governor Wes Moore and the Board of Works last spring. In May 2024, an agreement to transfer ownership of Pimlico Race Course from The Stronach Group (operating as 1/ST Racing) to the State of Maryland was signed off on as well as a $400 million full renovation of Pimlico, a $10 million investment in the surrounding Park Heights community, and the creation of The Maryland Jockey Club Inc., a non-profit to operate racing in Maryland.

Under the agreement, Pimlico will become the year-round home for all Thoroughbred racing in Maryland while the state’s other Thoroughbred track, Laurel Park, will ultimately close. Laurel is still nominally owned by The Stronach Group but the Maryland Jockey Club has a 2–3-year lease to operate the track until the new Pimlico is open for live racing. By the time Laurel is eventually shuttered and redeveloped, plans call for a new year-round training center to be constructed at the current Shamrock Farm, located 20 miles from Pimlico in Carroll County. 

Keeping the Preakness in Maryland had been a point of contention in recent years, and anyone who has encountered the structural issues at the track itself – from plumbing issues to broken elevators to condemned portions of the grandstand – saw it suffered from a glaring lack of commitment to investing in its future. Though The Stronach Group still controls the rights to the Preakness for 2025 and 2026, the state and the Maryland Jockey Club will gain the rights to the classic test and take over full management in 2027. 

That same year is also targeted for the completion of the Pimlico renovation. While the track will still host the Preakness this May before demolition begins approximately 30 days after, the 1 3/16-miles race will move to Laurel in 2026 before making its planned return the following year to its longstanding home.

At a time when multiple racing jurisdictions – most notably Florida and California - are dealing with uneasiness about the long-term health and future of the sport, the change in ownership and emphatic support from government officials has shifted the general sentiment in Maryland for the positive. It’s a twist few would have been optimistic enough to forecast only a handful of years ago, but one that is already having a revitalizing effect. 

“When I was covering Maryland five years ago, racing in the state was a solid, solid circuit but we were always wondering. We were always worried about contraction, worried about handle numbers, you always worry about what tracks could be in danger,” said Dan Illman, who was named Director of Communications of the Maryland Jockey Club after previously serving as the Midlantic-based reporter and handicapper for Daily Racing Form. “I never really felt that Laurel and Pimlico were in any sort of danger but…you walk into that press box Preakness week and you realize there is a wonderful history there but unfortunately the track is crumbling. 

“To see that the Governor and the Mayor of Baltimore and everyone is so into trying to rejuvenate the sport in a way with the new Pimlico and bringing out sort of a sparkling new face to Maryland racing, it’s kind of exciting. I wasn’t sure if that would be the case five years ago but they’re going full steam ahead and they really want to promote the Preakness, sort of like having a Kentucky Derby week Preakness week with all the events and everything else.”

In addition to the investment in the racing product, state officials along with the Maryland Jockey Club, and Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority - which was created in 2023 to support the development of racing and training facilities in the state – have also prioritized pouring back into its neighborhoods and fellow businesses. In early March, a lineup of events for the inaugural Preakness Festival were announced including Maryland horse farm tours and a music festival in Park Heights honoring George "Spider" Anderson, the first African American jockey to win the Preakness Stakes. 

Being a good community partner won’t just be limited to its highest profile week, however. School field trips to Laurel Park in which students get an up-close view on how the equine athletes are cared for are already becoming a regular occurrence. And on a near daily basis, Illman finds himself fielding requests for track representatives to speak at everything from libraries to schools to senior centers.

“I think it’s very important for us to get involved with members of the community…and I think it’s important for the community to know we’re not just here as a gambling establishment. We’re here as a partner in the city and the state,” Illman said. 

The curiosity from the public about the industry is something many believe has always been present but lacked a proper conduit. With the new ownership and management structure in place, the state’s racing participants are now better positioned to provide answers and foster deeper connections. 

“It was very clear that (community involvement) was a focal point when I came in just interviewing for the job,” said Bill Knauf, president of the Maryland Jockey Club. “The way that the law is written when the MTROA was created, Park Heights as a community can benefit if the Maryland Jockey Club becomes profitable. They receive a portion of those profits so there certainly is an incentive and close tie-in to the community. And I think being state-run facilitates that relationship to form a closer bond to the community. 

“Part of it too is, what else can we use our facilities for?,” Knauf continued. “I’m sure we’ll utilize our infield for different things throughout the year whether it’s concerts or a festival or a farmer’s market – anything along those lines that constantly drives traffic through that big, beautiful new building we’ll have and at the same time, gets people coming to Park Heights.”

Necessary as it may be, change often doesn’t occur without challenges at its hip - and the Thoroughbred industry is Exhibit A of such. While Maryland racing has certainly received an injection of support and vision, there are still hurdles that must be cleared for its goal of becoming a top-class destination for both horseplayers and casual fans is realized. 

Maryland tracks will run a reduced schedule of 120 race dates in 2025 and the ongoing issue of a shrinking foal crop is impacting the health of the sport in practically every jurisdiction. The Maryland Jockey Club has yet to announce board members and concrete plans for the training facility remain in the works.

Though a reduction in race days and its inevitable impact on handle always sparks concern, the decision to work in partnership with Colonial Downs and not compete with the Virginia-based track in July and August is being seen as a net positive. And once Pimlico becomes the year-round racing facility, the possibility of hosting a turf meet at bucolic Fair Hill is among several options on the table. 

“They made a tremendous decision not to compete with Colonial. It’s too hard for these racetracks to continue to fill races year-round, there aren’t enough horses” said trainer Graham Motion, a Hall of Fame finalist who has been based in Maryland the entirety of his career. “And I think one thing that could fall into place is, it’s going to be tough having year-round racing on the Pimlico turf course so we need to see if we can evolve Fair Hill somehow where we now have a turf course that is on the verge of being reopened. That is something where we could have a Kentucky Downs type meet there.

“Maryland has always been my core. I started in Maryland, I’m based in Maryland, the Maryland tracks have always been where I want to run. So, I think the upward trajectory is encouraging,” Motion continued. “So much of it is still up in the air…but we have two more years. I think it being run by horsemen who really do have racing in their best interest, I think that is going to be a big positive.”

If there is a linchpin behind the progress already made and the advancements in the pipeline for Maryland racing it is the fact the industry has garnered crucial support from those in the legislature. Such a positive relationship has already played out in states like Kentucky and New York, both of which offer some of the strongest year-round circuits in the sport. 

If all goes as expected the next few years, the refurbished Pimlico structure will once again hold added symbolism – this time of what strengthened bonds can achieve. 

“I think anytime you have a state like Maryland that steps up and invests the type of money that they are going to in the new facility, in the training center, in creating an authority to oversee racing…that sends a message to the patrons to say, you know, we care about racing. We care about the industry and we're going to be behind it,” Knauf said. “Everything has been incredibly positive since I’ve been here. The horsemen are energized, the breeders are energized, and hopefully with the new facility we can pave a new path.

“Things are constantly changing, and we’ll have to adapt to whatever that means. But it’s very exciting for me personally and very exciting for the industry. It will be fun to see how it all evolves.”







Walter Rodriguez

Article by Ken Snyder

Walter Rodriguez apprentice jockey

We see them every day in the news—men, women and children trudging north across Mexico, searching for a brighter future in the best bet on the globe: the United States. For most Americans, we don’t foresee them winning that bet like our ancestors did generations ago. The odds against them are huge. 

But long shots do come in. 

Walter Rodriguez was 17 years old when he pushed off into the Rio Grande River in the dark from the Mexican bank, his arms wrapped around an inner tube to cross into the U.S. The year was 2015, which differs from 2023 only in scale in terms of illegal immigration. He crossed with two things: the clothes on his back and a desire to make money he could send home. How he ended up making money and yes, quite a bit of it at this point, meant overcoming the longest odds imaginable and, perhaps, a lot of divine intervention. 

Getting here began with a long six-week journey to the border from Usulutan, El Salvador, conducted surreptitiously and not without risk and a sense of danger. 

His family paid $5,000 to a “coyote” (the term we’ve all come to know for those who lead people to the border). 

“They would use cars with six or eight people packed in, and we would drive 10 hours. We’d stay in a house. Next morning, they would drive again in different cars, like a van; and there would be more people in it.”

Three hours into a trek through South Texas brush after his river crossing, the border patrol intercepted him. He first went to jail for several days. After that, he was flown to a detention center for illegally migrating teenagers in Florida with one thread tying him to the U.S. and preventing deportation: an uncle in Baltimore. After a month there and verification that his uncle would take him in, Walter flew to Baltimore and his uncle’s home in Elk Ridge, Maryland. From El Salvador, the trip covered about 3,200 miles. 

He worked in his uncle’s business, pushing, lifting and installing appliances, doing the work of much larger men despite his diminutive size. More than a few people marveled at his strength. Ironically, and what he believes divinely, more than a few people unknowingly prophesied what was to come next for Rodriguez. Particularly striking and memorable for Walter was an old man at a gas station who looked at him and said twice. “You should be a jockey.”

For Walter, the counsel was more than just a chance encounter with a stranger. It is a memory he will carry his whole life: “This means something. I think God was calling me.” 

Laurel Park just happened to be 15 minutes from where Rodriguez lived in Elk Ridge.  

Whether by chance or divine intervention, the first person Rodriguez encountered at Laurel was jockey J.D. Acosta. Walter asked in Spanish, his only language at the time, “Where can I go to learn how to ride? I would like to ride horses.”

He couldn’t have gotten better direction. “I’ve got the perfect guy for you,” said Acosta. That was Jose Corrales, who is known for tutoring and mentoring young jockeys—three of whom have won Eclipse Awards as Apprentice of the Year and a fourth with the same title in England. That was Irish jockey David Egan who spent a winter with Corrales in 2016 before returning to England. He piloted Mishriff to a win in the 2021 Saudi Cup. 

 “This kid—he came over out of the blue to my stable,” recalled Corrales. “He said, ‘I’m so sorry. Somebody told me to come and see you and see if maybe I could become a jockey.’”  

Corrales sized up Rodriguez as others had, echoing what others had told him: “You look like you could be a jockey.”

The journey from looking like a jockey to a license, however, was a long one; he knew nothing about horses or horse racing.

Perhaps surprisingly for someone from Central America, where horses are a routine part of the rural landscape, Rodriguez was scared of Thoroughbreds.

He began, like most people new to the racetrack, hot walking horses after workouts. Corrales also took on the completion of immigration paperwork that had begun with Rodriguez’s uncle.

His first steps toward becoming a rider began with learning how to properly hold reins. After that came time on an Equicizer to familiarize him with the feel of riding. The next step was jogging horses—the real thing.

“He started looking good,” said Corrales.

“I see a lot of things. I told him, ‘You’re going to do something.’”

Maybe the first major step toward becoming a jockey began with the orneriest horse in Corrales’ barn, King Pacay.

“I was scared to put him on,” said Corrales. In fact, the former jockey dreaded exercising the horse, having been “dropped” more than a few times by the horse.

Walter volunteered for the task. “Let me ride him,” Corrales remembered him saying before he asked him, “Are you sure?”

Maybe before the young would-be jockey could change his mind, Corrales quickly gave him a leg up.

“In the beginning, he almost dropped him,” said Corrales, “but he stayed on and he didn’t want to get off.  He said, ‘No, I want to ride him.’”

“It was like a challenge I had to go through,” said Rodriguez, representing a life-changer for him—a career as a jockey or a return to his uncle’s business and heavy appliances. 

The horse not only helped him overcome fear but gave him the confidence to do more than just survive a mean horse.

“I started to learn more of the control of the horses from there.”

Using the word “control” is ironic. In Rodriguez’s third start as a licensed jockey, he won his first race on a horse he didn’t control.

“To be honest, I didn’t know what I was doing. I just let the horse [a Maryland-bred filly, Rationalmillennial] do his thing. I tried to keep her straight, but I didn’t know enough—no tactics, none of that. We broke from the gate, and I just let the horse go.”

Walter Rodriguez receives the traditional dousing from fellow jockey Jorge Ruiz after winning his first career race at Laurel Park, 2022.

Walter Rodriguez receives the traditional dousing from fellow jockey Jorge Ruiz after winning his first career race at Laurel Park, 2022.

Walter Rodriguez receives the traditional dousing from fellow jockey Jorge Ruiz after winning his first career race at Laurel Park, 2022.

It was the first of 11 victories in 2022 in six-and-a-half months on Maryland tracks and then Turfway Park in Kentucky. Earnings were $860,888 in 2022; and to date, at the time of writing not quite halfway through the year, his mounts have earned a whopping $2,558,075. Most amazing, he led Turfway in wins during that track's January through March meet with 48. He rode at a 19% win rate.

Next was a giant step for Rodriguez: the April Spring meet at Keeneland, which annually draws the nation’s best riders.

He won four races from 39 starts. More significant than the wins, perhaps, is the trainer in the winner’s circle with Rodriguez on three of those wins: Wesley Ward.

How Ward came to give Rodriguez an opportunity goes back to 1984, the year of Ward’s Eclipse Award for Outstanding Apprentice. One day on the track at Belmont, he met Jose Corrales. On discovering Corrales was a jockey coming off an injury and battling weight, Ward encouraged him to take his tack to Longacres in Seattle. The move was profitable, leading to a career of over $4.4 million in earnings for Corrales and riding stints in Macau and Hong Kong.

The brief exchange on the racetrack during workouts began a friendship between Corrales and Ward that continued and is one more of those things that lead to where Rodriguez is today as a jockey. 

Walter Rodriguez and mentor Jose Corrales

Corrales touted Rodriguez to Ward, who might be the perfect trainer to promote an apprentice rider. Ward’s success as a “bug boy” eliminates the hesitation many of his owners might have against riding apprentices. 

He might be the young Salvadoran’s biggest fan.

“I can’t say enough good things about that boy.  He’s a wonderful, wonderful human being and is going to be a great rider.”

He added something that is any trainer’s sky-high praise for a jockey: “He’s got that ‘x-factor.’ Horses just run for him.”

Corrales, too, recognizes in Rodriguez a work ethic in short supply on the race track. “A lot of kids, they want to come to the racetrack, and in six months they want to be a jockey. They don’t learn horsemanship,” said Corrales. “You tell Walter to do a stall, he does a stall. You tell him to saddle a horse, he saddles the horse. He learns to do what needs to be done with the horses.

“He’s got the weight. He’s got the size. He’s got a great attitude. He works hard.”

Ward was astonished at something the young man did when one of his exercise riders didn’t show up at Turfway one morning: “He was leading rider at the time but got on 15 horses that morning and that’s just one time.“ Ward estimated Rodriguez did the same thing another 25 times.

“He’ll do anything you ask; he’s just the greatest kid.” 

Ward recounted Rodriguez twice went to an airport in Cincinnati to pick up barn workers flying back to the U.S. from Mexico to satisfy visa requirements. “He’d pick them up at the airport from the red-eye flight at 4:30 in the morning and then drive them down to work at Keeneland.”

Walter on Wesley Ward’s Eye Witness at Keeneland.

Walter on Wesley Ward’s Eye Witness at Keeneland.

With Rodriguez’s success, talent is indisputable, but Corrales also credits a strong desire to reach his goal combined with an outstanding attitude. Spirituality, too, is a key attribute developing in extraordinary circumstances in his home country. 

When Rodriguez was three years old, his father abandoned him and his mother. As for her, all he will say is, “She couldn’t raise me.” His grandmother, Catalina Rodriguez, was the sole parent to Rodriguez from age three.

He calls his grandmother “three or four times a week,” and she knows about his career, thanks to cousins that show her replays of his races.

Watching him leave El Salvador was difficult for her, but she saw it as necessary to the alternative. He credits her for giving him “an opportunity in life. Otherwise, I would be somebody else, doing bad things back at home.”

Surprisingly, her concerns for her grandson in the U.S. were more with handling appliances than 1,110-pound Thoroughbreds.

“When I was working with my uncle, she wasn’t really happy; she wasn’t sure about what I was doing.

“But I kept saying to her, let’s have faith. Hopefully, this is going to be okay. Now she realizes what I was saying.”

His faith extends to the latest in his career: riding at Churchill Downs this summer. “One day I got on my knees and I said to God, ‘Please give me the talent to ride where the big guys are.’“

Gratitude is another quality that seems to come naturally for Rodriguez. After the Turfway Park meet at the beginning of April, he flew back to Maryland to provide a cookout for everybody in Jose Corrales’s barn. 

Walter Rodriguez apprentice jockey

He also sends money to El Salvador, not only to his grandmother but to help elderly persons he knows back home. During the interview, he showed pictures of food being served to people in his village at his former church. At least a significant portion of that is financed by Rodriguez’s generosity.

“I love to help people. It will come back to you in so many ways. I’ve seen how it came back to me.”

According to Corrales, there have been discussions about a possible movie on Rodriguez, who just received his green card in June of this year.

“These days with immigration, crossing the border and all the trouble we’re having—to have somebody cross the border and have success, it’s a blessing,” Corrales said.

A blessing, for sure, but one that was meant to be. Walter encapsulated his journey and what happened after he went to Laurel Park with a passage from a psalm in the Bible: “The steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord.” 

Rejuvenation and uncertainty in Maryland

By Linda Dougherty

One may be in its death throes. The other is getting a new lease on life. Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park, Maryland’s two major racetracks, are a study in contrasts.

Laurel Park, located near the affluent suburbs of northern Virginia and bustling Washington, D.C., has received a considerable facelift in the last two years by its owner, the Stronach Group. It’s come with an eye towards hosting future major events, including the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, and possibly the Preakness Stakes, second jewel of racing’s Triple Crown.

While Laurel, which opened in 1911, has a long history, it is Pimlico, which opened in 1870 and is the nation’s second-oldest racetrack behind only Saratoga, that holds a special place in the annals of the sport. Pimlico not only hosts the Preakness, set this year for May 19, but has been the scene of such memorable events as the celebrated match race between Seabiscuit and War Admiral in 1938. And despite Pimlico being surrounded by a distressed Baltimore neighborhood, the Preakness is an economic boon to both the city and state.

But for more than a few years, as attention shifts to Baltimore soon after the dust settles from the Kentucky Derby, questions have arisen as to the future of Pimlico, which has often been described as decrepit, run down, and completely devoid of the charm that is associated with Churchill Downs, or the enormous wonder of Belmont Park.

Those questions have become more pointed recently with the reduction of live racing dates at Pimlico, the shift of those dates to Laurel Park, and the absence of any serious renovations to Pimlico by the Stronach Group.  

The release last year of Phase 1 of a two-phase study of Pimlico by the Maryland Stadium Authority concluded that it will require an enormous amount of money for either extensive improvements or a complete rebuilding, and has many wondering how much longer the track will remain.  

The Stronach Group has indicated it is not prepared to make a major investment in Pimlico for what amounts to just a dozen racing dates per year without financial help from the city and state. The company’s focus on improvements to Laurel Park are part of a plan to land the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, which it hopes to be awarded in the next few years after submitting a formal bid earlier this winter. If Laurel is successful in handling a large crowd with the attendant festivities, the Breeders’ Cup could be a precursor towards it being the new home of the Preakness Stakes, though it’s not expected to happen without a fight.  

A Glorious Past, An Uncertain Future

The 90-page Phase 1 Stadium Authority study, published February 24, 2017, examined the current condition of Pimlico, its potential future use, and the estimated costs for renovation or rebuilding. 

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