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.”

Alan Balch - Fiefdoms redux?

I’m reminded of racing’s counterproductive fiefdoms by a 2008 writing in these pages of the late Arnold Kirkpatrick, my much-revered colleague and friend.  Back then, it seemed to him, there were way too many fiefs in the way of industry-wide accomplishments.  

To Arthur Hancock’s suggestion that our problems were caused by a lack of leadership, Arnold was “unalterably convinced that our problem is not a lack of leadership but too much leadership.”  He counted 183 separate organizations in Thoroughbred racing alone, each with their own agendas and jealousies.  “With 183 rudders all pointed in different directions, we have two possible outcomes – at best, we’ll be dead in the water; at worst, we’ll be breaking apart on the rocks.” 

In 2024, can it be said, without irony, that this is the best of times, and the worst of times?

In North America, and California in particular, an historic sport and industry contraction is well underway, by every possible indicator – led by the declining foal crop.  One might think there has been a corresponding contraction in the list of racing’s organizations; somehow, I doubt that’s true.  Nevertheless, in the “Golden State,” once a perennial leader of American racing, we have lost a critical mass of tracks since 2008:  Bay Meadows, Hollywood Park, fair racing at Vallejo, San Mateo, Stockton, and Pomona, and Golden Gate Fields this year. 

Is it simply a coincidence that this all happened while one racing operator – the Stronach Group --  increasingly dominated and controlled the sport in California, as no track owner ever before was permitted to do?

Arnold’s word “fiefdom” . . . comes back to mind, but now from a different perspective.  In European feudal times, as we learned in school, the fief was a landed estate given by a lord to a vassal in return for the vassal's service to the lord.  There are a great many California owners, trainers, breeders, jockeys, vendors, fans, and even regulators, who have been wondering how the vassals ever turned the tables.

In a Los Angeles Times interview published on April 5, Aidan Butler, the chief executive officer of 1/ST Racing and Gaming, the Stronach operator, used the term “imbeciles” to describe those who would question the company’s intentions, and perhaps its motives, in sending what was widely perceived as a blatantly threatening letter to the California Horse Racing Board.  

Instead, he termed the letter “transparent.”  And then stated, “if nothing else, people have been forewarned.”  Seconds before, he had claimed that the amount of money Stronach had invested in Santa Anita proved its good intentions.  This is the same executive who months earlier had suddenly announced, giving stakeholders notice of only hours, that Golden Gate Fields would be closed within weeks, before changing his mind under pressure from the rest of the industry.

Confused?

Stronach’s track management may be described many ways; truthfully “transparent” is certainly not one of them, despite constant assertions to the contrary.  As a private family company, even in a regulated industry, its leaders can claim whatever they want with impunity.  After all, the exceptionally valuable real estate on which most (all?) of their track holdings reside appears to make them immune from audit or inspection:  they rarely, if ever, are reluctant to tell their racing fraternity vassals that it’s their way or no way.  The damage resulting from that attitude is staggering.

Edward J. DeBartolo, Sr., was a predecessor billionaire owner of multiple American tracks.  Perhaps, however, because of his ownership of great and successful team sports franchises, among other interests such as construction, retail, and shopping center development, not to mention education and philanthropy, he knew what he didn’t know.  He realized he always needed teammates.  He delighted in saying to his fellow track owners that managing race tracks was by far the most difficult of all his enterprises, due to the elaborate interdependent structure of racing, and its nearly infinite number of critical component interests, each with different expertise.  More complicated than any of his other pursuits, he said!  To succeed in racing challenged him to learn, and his success resided in hiring, consulting with, and relying on people who knew more than he did.  As it did in all his businesses. 

Even to the most oblivious, it can’t have been hidden to the Stronach leadership that entering the heavily-regulated California racing market in the late 1990s would present serious challenges, at least as enormous as the opportunities.  Acquiring the two glorious racing properties of Santa Anita and Golden Gate (with a relatively short leasehold at a third, Bay Meadows) had to have been exciting.  To someone with the DeBartolo outlook on interdependent management, rather than the inverse, it could have been invigorating and boundlessly successful. 

That the opposite has resulted is an enormous tragedy for the sport worldwide, not just in California.  After all, the State of California’s economy (as measured by its own Gross State Product) is among the top five in the world, outranking even the United Kingdom’s.  How could this happen?

Had Stronach leadership begun, at the outset, consulting and cooperating in good faith with its California partners (including regulators, legislators, and local communities, not to mention fellow racing organizations, the owners, trainers, breeders, and other tracks), learning from them as teammates rather than dictating to them, California racing would look far different now than it does.  Its imperious and constantly changing management leadership compounded perennial problems and threats, not to mention complicating the industry’s politics and standing in California sports.  Obvious failures to understand California markets and invest in sophisticated communications and marketing also have been apparent, despite continual assertions to the contrary.    

Is there still hope for California racing?  Yes . . . but if and only if honest humility suddenly appears from Stronach leaders, and immediate, sincere engagement occurs with all the rest of the interdependent entities upon whose lives and success the racing industry depends. 

Track Superintendents - the three generations of the Moore family and how they have track management has changed over the last fifty years

Article by Ed Golden

            Dennis Moore’s career as the world’s foremost race track superintendent drew its first breath back in the 1930s, when his father, Bob, began a move akin to the Joad family’s forced escape to California from Oklahoma’s Dust Bowl, captured so poignantly in John Steinback’s 1939 classic, “The Grapes of Wrath.”

            Bob Moore, who passed away in 1987, was the patriarch of a family devoted to track maintenance and the safety of horses. In 1946, he went to work at Hollywood Park where he was a long-time track superintendent at the Inglewood, California track which closed on Dec. 22, 2013. Bob’s sons, Ron and Dennis, followed in his footsteps.

            They have been track superintendents at Santa Anita, and now his grandson, Rob, Dennis’ son, is taking over at the historic Arcadia, California track. In addition, they lend their services to Los Alamitos in Cypress, while Dennis also consults and plies his trade at tracks throughout the United States and across the globe.

            “I’ve done work overseas at probably over 150 different race tracks,” said Dennis, a native Californian who celebrated his 74th birthday this past Dec. 7. “I don’t count the tracks anymore. I didn’t want to leave California as a kid and now I’ve been to Germany, France, Dubai, all over the world. This is a great job, but you’ve got to have thick skin.

            “You listen to the trainers, but not those who make it personal and yell and scream and cuss. I won’t tolerate that, although sometimes their complaints are legitimate and you investigate, so all the scientific testing we do right now is a big help.

Bob Moore

“My dad came out here in ’38. He hopped a freight train and lived in hobo camps. He’d talk about the Dust Bowl and how they’d soak cloths in water and put them over their face so they could sleep at night.

            “His father told him he could go to California as long as he’d come back and finish high school. He did that, but as soon as he finished high school he returned to California and never left.

            “He got into construction as a mechanic in ’38, left Santa Anita in 1948, opened a garage in LA, then shut that down, went back to work at the track in 1953 and was there until he retired in 1979.

            “I was born in 1949; my brother was born in ’46. We’d go back and forth from Hollywood Park to Santa Anita. That was the circuit at that time, because Del Mar’s work was all done by Teamsters which had its separate crew.

            “That’s how my brother and I got involved with the race tracks. When I was about six years old, in the summer, we’d go to work with my dad sometimes. We’d ride on the harrows after the races and hang out in the garage, stuff like that. They’d race Tuesday through Saturday.

            “Ron worked for a while at Hollywood Park before taking over as track superintendent at Santa Anita in 1978. In 1972, I started working at Los Alamitos before working the Oak Tree meet at Santa Anita. In ’77, I became the track superintendent at Los Alamitos.”

            Ron, 77 and retired, says his history at the race track began by gambling, starting with Swaps and (Bill) Shoemaker in the 50s.

“When I was 14, I got a job as a footman on the carriages that took the judges around the track, way before there was closed-circuit TV and everything,” Ron recalled.

Ron Moore

            “We didn’t race Sundays then, only Saturdays and holidays, allowing me to work while still going to school, and the money I made went to betting. I didn’t do much good at it, but my interest started earlier, going to work with my dad and hanging out on the backside at Hollywood Park.

            “That’s where all the stable employees would go to gamble. During the races, I always wanted to get close to the rail and wait for Shoemaker to ride by so I could wave at him.

            “My first bet was made there, and I think I won $11. I did eventually work on race track surfaces at Santa Anita from 1969 to ’87. I worked as a construction laborer at Hollywood on the track crew and a little while at Los Al before I went into the Army. Later I operated racing equipment on the track.

“But give credit where credit’s due; my brother (Dennis) has been at the forefront in making racing safer. He’s never been afraid to try something new, and most times it’s not just an improvement, but a huge improvement.

“His decisions aren’t made lightly, only after much deliberation, investigation and discussion with experts on soil conservation. That’s the whole game, safety of the jockeys and the horses.

“Not because he’s my brother, but over the long haul in this country, I would say he’s done more for safety than anybody.”

Dennis & Rob Moore

            Dennis has extensive experience with a multitude of surfaces--dirt, turf, and synthetics as well as related maintenance equipment, perhaps more than any living being. Dennis and Rob currently are directing a gargantuan project, installing a Tapeta training track at Santa Anita.

            Track supers are burdened with a 24/7 task, shuteye a valued commodity attained at infrequent and welcome intervals. They are at the mercy of hourly weather forecasts, ringing cell phones and texts, with safety of horse and rider ever paramount.

            It’s a balancing act reminiscent of the Wallendas, only this on terra firma, an indigenous tradition with the Moores who wouldn’t have it any other way. To use a football analogy, sometimes it seems like it’s always third and long.

            “It’s not a nine to five job,” Dennis readily admits. “I get to the track every morning at 5:30 and don’t leave until about 6:30 (p.m.) or later. When the track is sealed, we come in about midnight, if we can open the track. There’s a lot more to it as far as maintaining, grading, the material composition and everything that goes with it.

            “I have horsemen call me 4:30, 5 o’clock, 6:30 in the morning, especially when we’ve got rain, when the track is sealed or even if they want a local (weather) forecast,” Dennis said. “That’s just part of the job.

            “We have a professional weather service that we use, but I have several other sites that I go on to try and make sense out of the forecast. The problem we have now is, everybody’s got a cell phone and they look at that and think it’s the accurate weather.

            “But the guys we use (Universal Weather) have been professional meteorologists for 40 years and are probably right about 85 percent of the time. I’ve been using it since 1977 and my brother and dad used it before. Universal gets timely updated forecasts whereas your phone may not be updated for 12 hours.

            “You consider all that information and decide if you’re going to open the track, leave it closed or what have you, and sometimes you’re the pigeon and sometimes you’re the pole, because when you’re wrong, you’re wrong, not the meteorologist.

            “You learn to deal with that, because all trainers consider themselves trackmen, but trackmen aren’t trainers. Every horse isn’t going to like your track. People talk about how safe synthetic tracks are, but, since 2020, I’ll put our (safety) numbers at Santa Anita and Del Mar against any synthetic tracks in the United States.

“I think Santa Anita and Del Mar are two of the best tracks in the country of the 50-some that have been tested.

            “I believe we can make dirt tracks just as safe as synthetics, but there’s a lot of work involved. All the protocols the Stronach Group started in 2019 and are in place now have helped a lot, as well.

            “But it doesn’t matter if a horse gets loose in the barn area and runs into a post and kills itself. It becomes national news. Some of these horses haven’t run in a year or missed 10 months of works, so you know they’ve got issues and we review them very carefully, but you’re not going to catch every one of them; things happen.

            “Most dirt tracks are comprised of sandy loam with silt clay particles,” Dennis added. “Synthetics can vary but Tapeta is the one right now that has been the most successful and that’s what is being put in the training track at Santa Anita. Along with the protocols, we have new rules and regulations we’ll follow, including a weather policy that dictates what we’ll do when we seal the track. It’s changed quite a bit from what it was in the old days.

            “We’ll be able to train on Tapeta in rain, snow, sleet or whatever.”

            At press time, Rob, who turned 54 the day after Christmas, was working hand in hand with Dennis in an effort to have Santa Anita’s Tapeta training track operational in January.

            “So far, so good,” Rob said. “We were under time constraints trying to complete it by the first week of January. Knock on wood, everything has been going well.”

            Following in the footsteps of family members was a natural transition for Rob.

            “That’s all guys in my family did and talked about,” Rob said. “For me, as a little kid going to the track with all that big equipment was like playing with soccer toys. Plus meeting all the race track characters and people from different walks of life made an indelible impression. It was attractive, in that sense.

            “But this job is kind of like a doctor’s in that you’re on call 24/7. I don’t think I’ve turned my (cell) phone off since I got the job. Sometimes meteorologists will forecast good weather, but then something unexpected happens like rain and wind. It seems there’s always something going on.

            “The fortunate thing for me is, I grew up around it and I thought I would be prepared for everything that would come along. But I wasn’t prepared at all, because there are so many minute details to consider in addition to the track and the horses.

            “When the pandemic hit, people were all talking about the horses, the horses, the horses, not about those who were on their backs. It was somebody’s father, somebody’s son, brother or sister, and that’s my biggest concern.

            “At every meet, I tell our crew we don’t want to be the reason something (negative) happens. I’m real fortunate with the crew I have because the majority of them grew up in the business, they’re third-generation like I am, they have a passion for the game and they care about it.

            “They pay attention to details, and that makes your job a lot easier when you have a reliable, dedicated crew. You’re only as good as your crew, plus my dad is a consultant, and he pops in every now and then pointing out potential problems.

“You’re not only responsible for the track itself, but everything that goes on around it. This is not a job you have just to make a paycheck

            “If you’re a trackman and you think you know it all, then you’re screwed and you’re screwing everybody around you. My dad’s been doing this 52 years and he’s still learning. I think that’s what separates him from everybody else. He’s always trying to make things better.

            “He’s a perfectionist, and it rubs off on you when you’re around it your whole life.”

Track consultant Dennis Moore alongside CHRB & track officials readying the Orono Biomechanical Surface Tester

            John Sadler is among the vast majority of trainers who concurs.

            “Dennis Moore is the gold standard for Track Superintendents,” said Sadler, 67, a Hall of Fame member-in-waiting.

 “I can’t heap enough praise on him. He’s the kind of guy you can call to discuss any issue. You can see that reflecting in our numbers favorably shifting dramatically on improved horse safety, and Dennis is a big reason for it, not to mention he’s been doing it for a hundred years.

            “The good thing about Dennis is, he can’t be pushed. He’s an experienced guy who believes in what he’s doing, and you have to allow him to do his job.”

            There are many special memories of Moore’s unselfish contributions to Sadler’s successes, one of which is foremost in his mind.

            “It was a week before Santa Anita’s big winter meet began in 2010 and Hollywood Park still had a synthetic track at the time, and it had rained for days and days,” Sadler recalled. “I asked Dennis how Santa Anita was doing because it was closed for training due to the rain, although horses could jog the wrong way.

            “I had horses pointing to the Malibu, the La Brea and the Mathis Mile, and Dennis said he might be able to open. So I vanned my horses over there and got to work on them, and we won all three stakes on the opening day card. Sidney’s Candy won the Mathis, Twirling Candy won the Malibu and Switch won the La Brea.

            “Dennis, communicated well and I got my works in. He wasn’t doing me a special favor, just telling me what was going on . . . a great guy.”

            Another tried and true member of the Dennis Moore fan club is Richard Mandella, who offered the following unsolicited praise.

“Track maintenance has everything to do with safety, and the Moore family is as good as it gets,” said Mandella.            

Dennis Moore – the gold standard for Track Superintendents

“It’s not an exact science, and everybody has to understand that,” Mandella added. “It’s something you have to have a feel for, and the Moores have always been excellent. Variables in track surfaces can work both ways for everybody, and even on a normal race track, that comes into play.

            “Some horses like deep tracks, some like them hard and fast. I don’t know if that’s important as far as safety is concerned, but the most important thing is uniformity and having a nice, even bottom with some bounce in the track so that horses are stable with it. It’s a combination that requires flexibility.”  

            While Dennis is primarily focused on safety and fulfilling random requests for trainers, it’s unreasonable to expect him to comply with all of them.

            “I’m sure he tries,” Mandella said, “but in my experience being on the California Thoroughbred Trainers (CTT) track committee for so many years is that if you have 10 trainers talking about track conditions, the ones who are winning like it, and the ones who aren’t, don’t.

            “It’s not easy to maintain a neutral position, but if anybody does it, Dennis Moore does.”

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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