Timonium Fair 2013

[Track Collector]

While we are talking about different tracks, I thought I would add this one to the discussion.

Many years ago they used to run consecutive days.

In the more recent years, they have run Fri-Sun, and Fri-Mon (7 days total) during the Maryland State Fair around and up to Labor Day.

I had heard that at the MD Racing Commission they applied for 10 days, but with the option to stay with the usual 7-day schedule.

With the benefit of slot money, it now looks like their 2013 schedule will be August 23 thru September 2, with just one dark day on Tuesday, August 27. Hopefully the extra days will not create a problem with drawing enough entries to fill all the races.

With about an 80 mile one-way ride, I'll be spending a lot of time driving up and down I-70. A number of days will end up being day/night doubleheaders with Timonium and Charles Town.

Timonium is something like the 3rd oldest continuous race meet in the country, as racing started in 1887. (I think only Saratoga and Pimlico are older).

While not everyone's cup of tea, I love racing at the Timonium Fair. :jump:

[wiffleball whizz]

While we are talking about different tracks, I thought I would add this one to the discussion.

Many years ago they used to run consecutive days.

In the more recent years, they have run Fri-Sun, and Fri-Mon (7 days total) during the Maryland State Fair around and up to Labor Day.

I had heard that at the MD Racing Commission they applied for 10 days, but with the option to stay with the usual 7-day schedule.

With the benefit of slot money, it now looks like their 2013 schedule will be August 23 thru September 2, with just one dark day on Tuesday, August 27. Hopefully the extra days will not create a problem with drawing enough entries to fill all the races.

With about an 80 mile one-way ride, I'll be spending a lot of time driving up and down I-70. A number of days will end up being day/night doubleheaders with Timonium and Charles Town.

Timonium is something like the 3rd oldest continuous race meet in the country, as racing started in 1887. (I think only Saratoga and Pimlico are older).

While not everyone's cup of tea, I love racing at the Timonium Fair. :jump:

Sounds awesome....Track collector u seem to make the rounds to live racing I'm very jealous of this!!!!!!!

Looking for some feedback on this timonuim meeting...bet it once at freehold 7 or 8 years ago.....8 horse fields on a 5/8th if I remember correctly

[bitter]

that track makes Charles Town look like Belmont, a real bull ring!!!

but you gotta get there at least once for live racing, the fair, and of course the hot dogs!!

[PhantomOnTour]

I think it goes Saratoga - Pimlico - Fairgrounds

[Saratoga_Mike]

Sounds awesome....Track collector u seem to make the rounds to live racing I'm very jealous of this!!!!!!!

Looking for some feedback on this timonuim meeting...bet it once at freehold 7 or 8 years ago.....8 horse fields on a 5/8th if I remember correctly

Great atmosphere - definitely worth attending.

[proximity]

Great atmosphere - definitely worth attending.

this.

no offense to mr rodman, but used to love the old announcer.

BOOMING voice. TWO MINUTES TO POST TIME...

ct and pen should start scheduling their maintenance breaks around this.

[proximity]

btw, desert park, track collector??????

never heard of that one!! :)

[Track Collector]

btw, desert park, track collector??????

never heard of that one!! :)

Hey proximity,

I hope life is treating you much better these days! Some day if I decide to take a closer look at poker, I'll have to hire you as a teaching mentor.

I would be surprised if more than one or two folks on the entire PA forum have heard of Desert Park. They are one of several small "interior" tracks in British Columbia that run a couple of days each year. The other tracks include Sunflower Downs (Princeton) and Kin Park (Vernon), both of which I already have on my track-collecting list. Another track not visited and not likely to revive racing is in Kamloops.

I have yet to determine when it was, but Desert Park last raced sometime between 10-15 years ago, so when I heard they were going to try again, it zoomed to top of my visit list. You never know when they will end racing again, which is always a real risk.

I have been invited to attend Pen during their big day of racing on Saturday, so give me a shout-out if you go.


Chris

[wiffleball whizz]

Hey proximity,

I hope life is treating you much better these days! Some day if I decide to take a closer look at poker, I'll have to hire you as a teaching mentor.

I would be surprised if more than one or two folks on the entire PA forum have heard of Desert Park. They are one of several small "interior" tracks in British Columbia that run a couple of days each year. The other tracks include Sunflower Downs (Princeton) and Kin Park (Vernon), both of which I already have on my track-collecting list. Another track not visited and not likely to revive racing is in Kamloops.

I have yet to determine when it was, but Desert Park last raced sometime between 10-15 years ago, so when I heard they were going to try again, it zoomed to top of my visit list. You never know when they will end racing again, which is always a real risk.

I have been invited to attend Pen during their big day of racing on Saturday, so give me a shout-out if you go.


Chris

The 64k question is can you GAAAAAMBOOOOL?!?? At the desert?

[Track Collector]

Sounds awesome....Track collector u seem to make the rounds to live racing I'm very jealous of this!!!!!!!

Looking for some feedback on this timonuim meeting...bet it once at freehold 7 or 8 years ago.....8 horse fields on a 5/8th if I remember correctly

No need to be jealous, I'm just very fortunate. I'm also frugal, so lots of advance planning go into these trips, like watching for low airfares, etc. Without going into a lot of details, my personal situation also allows me various tax benefits.

As far as handicapping Timonium, the 4f sprints are not surprisingly won by earlier speed horses. It is also a plus when the jockey has ridden at tighter turn tracks like Charles Town vs. mile tracks where the turns are more gradual. As to the other distances (like the about 6.5f races), early speed tends to be a negative rather than a positive. Deep closers also do not do well, but the "Presser" style seems to be a positive.

When looking at food, a new bar/restaurant was build last year on the second floor of the grandstand structure. Personally I favor the Maryland Food Court located down in the main body of the fair. They have various booths with different food themes, like Seafood, Chicken, Turkey, Beef, Pork, and Greek. Yum!!

Another thing to check out is the rear wall on the second floor of the grandstand structure. On it is a large, hand-drawn chalk mural showing different fair racing aspects from what I am guessing to be the 1960's or 1970's. Lots of details and very interesting.


Chris

[Track Collector]

The 64k question is can you GAAAAAMBOOOOL?!?? At the desert?

Yes, all the small race meets that I have attended offer pari-mutuel wagering.

Although the pools can be tiny relative to commercial-type tracks, one can still have a reasonable expectation of coming in the black. :)

[wiffleball whizz]

No need to be jealous, I'm just very fortunate. I'm also frugal, so lots of advance planning go into these trips, like watching for low airfares, etc. Without going into a lot of details, my personal situation also allows me various tax benefits.

As far as handicapping Timonium, the 4f sprints are not surprisingly won by earlier speed horses. It is also a plus when the jockey has ridden at tighter turn tracks like Charles Town vs. mile tracks where the turns are more gradual. As to the other distances (like the about 6.5f races), early speed tends to be a negative rather than a positive. Deep closers also do not do well, but the "Presser" style seems to be a positive.

When looking at food, a new bar/restaurant was build last year on the second floor of the grandstand structure. Personally I favor the Maryland Food Court located down in the main body of the fair. They have various booths with different food themes, like Seafood, Chicken, Turkey, Beef, Pork, and Greek. Yum!!

Another thing to check out is the rear wall on the second floor of the grandstand structure. On it is a large, hand-drawn chalk mural showing different fair racing aspects from what I am guessing to be the 1960's or 1970's. Lots of details and very interesting.


Chris

Awesome post....good for you being able to travel all over watching racing there's gotta be nothing better then that!!! Too bad I didn't a chance to meet you at the Atlantic city meet this year....

Hopefully some PA members will be at the timonuim meet this year

I kind of get the idea most members of PA don't just hide behind there screen they actaully are real people hahahaha that you can actually meet at the races

TC what's your favorite track you been too thus far?

[VeryOldMan]

As far as handicapping Timonium, the 4f sprints are not surprisingly won by earlier speed horses. It is also a plus when the jockey has ridden at tighter turn tracks like Charles Town vs. mile tracks where the turns are more gradual. As to the other distances (like the about 6.5f races), early speed tends to be a negative rather than a positive. Deep closers also do not do well, but the "Presser" style seems to be a positive.

When looking at food, a new bar/restaurant was build last year on the second floor of the grandstand structure. Personally I favor the Maryland Food Court located down in the main body of the fair. They have various booths with different food themes, like Seafood, Chicken, Turkey, Beef, Pork, and Greek. Yum!!

Another thing to check out is the rear wall on the second floor of the grandstand structure. On it is a large, hand-drawn chalk mural showing different fair racing aspects from what I am guessing to be the 1960's or 1970's. Lots of details and very interesting.



Great post. You're making me want to drive up there this summer to check it out!

[ronsmac]

When i was a kid, they ran a 43 day meet i believe. The first bet i ever made was on michaels lad at the fair.

[Saratoga_Mike]

43-day TIM meet - that's amazing and I assume that's when Bowie was still open.

[Track Collector]

43-day TIM meet - that's amazing and I assume that's when Bowie was still open.

I am not old enough to know when they ran longer, but during my lifetime I believe the longest they ran was something like 18 days.

Maryland used to have a fair circuit many years before I was born, or not old enough to know much about racing.

I believe they had racing in:
Cumberland --> Last raced in 1961. Track was called Fairgo.
Hagerstown --> Last raced in 1970.
Bel Air --> Last raced 1950's ??
Havre de Grace --> Last raced in the 1950's ??
Marlboro --> Last raced in the early 1990's. They ran 2 days in the dead of winter and profits were donated to the local equine facility.

I was lucky enough to add Marlboro to my live visit list. I also added Bowie to my list in 1984, which turned out to be the last year they raced. Since then they have been used as a training facility. I think current plans are now to tear down Bowie.


.

[cj]

Great post. You're making me want to drive up there this summer to check it out!

It is worth checking out for a day. The fair is fun too if you like bad for you food.

[Track Collector]

Hopefully some PA members will be at the timonuim meet this year

TC what's your favorite track you been too thus far?

I am always open to meeting up with fellow PA members. All one has to do is let me know.

My favorite track (that is no longer running) was the Northampton Fair in Massachusetts. It was well-supported, lots of agricultural activities included in the fair, and up-close racing. The fair itself has been run continuously since 1818. They usually ran 7 to 10 days which always covered Labor Day. Unfortunately, they decided after 2005 to end racing. Since then, part of the track has been removed, and I think long term plans are to even tear down that beautiful wooden grandstand.

My current favorite is the Crooked River Roundup in Prineville, Oregon. They run 4 straight days shortly after the July 4th weekend. They offer mostly thoroughbred races, with a few QH races mixed in. Like most fairs out west, the track is 1/2 mile, which is even smaller than Timonium's 5/8 track. It is well-supported by the local community. Probably unique for a racing fair, they have lights around the track so that most of their racing card is after dark.


.

[badcompany]

Timonium has to be the worst name ever for a track. It sounds like some type of cleaning agent.

[badcompany]

btw, desert park, track collector??????

never heard of that one!! :)

Neither had I. Looks pretty scenic:

http://static.wix.com/media/6b943a_5c3d5fad03bd90a61f724fec44e073ac.jpg_srz_99 0_380_85_22_0.50_1.20_0.00_jpg_srz

[cj]

Timonium has to be the worst name ever for a track. It sounds like some type of cleaning agent.

It is the name of the town it is in.

[VeryOldMan]

It is the name of the town it is in.

This. In the northern suburbs of Baltimore.

It sounds like the name of a rare element.

[ronsmac]

43-day TIM meet - that's amazing and I assume that's when Bowie was still open.
When the Defrancis family bought all the md tracks in 1985 i belive, they closed Bowie for racing and limited Timonium to the 10 days of the maryland state fair that runs thru labor day.

[ronsmac]

When the Defrancis family bought all the md tracks in 1985 i belive, they closed Bowie for racing and limited Timonium to the 10 days of the maryland state fair that runs thru labor day.
All the major tracks that is, Bowie, Laurel,and Pimlico.

[Edward DeVere]

If you're into the historical side, there's a relatively new building at Timonium ("The Big T" to the cognoscenti) which houses many items from the fair history. Lots of racing stuff included.

Birds O' Prey in an adjacent room, sometimes, which is kind of cool. Being the newest building on the grounds, it also has the nicest bathrooms, if you are attending with a lady fair who is persnickety about those sorts of things.

I second the emotion on the Maryland Food Court, across from the cow palace. I'm particularly partial to the reasonably priced (for fair food) sausage sammich.

[Edward DeVere]

Timonium has to be the worst name ever for a track. It sounds like some type of cleaning agent.

Perhaps you'd prefer the town next door: Cockeysville.

[Edward DeVere]

I think current plans are now to tear down Bowie.
.

The grandstand's gone, and, supposedly, the training track and stables soon will be gone, too.

'Cause you just can't have enough houses and shopping centers. . . .

[Scanman]

Nice job with this Chris. Someone has to look out for the "little guys". I've only been to Timonium once, great experience. Did the TIM-CT double that day. Unfortunately, I'll rarely get up home (PA) during their meet. My brother, who is a quasi-racing fan makes an annual pilgimage to Timonium. So for me, that say a lot.

[wiffleball whizz]

I'm 100 percent going to timonuim....then running it back at Charlestown...

Very sad but true fact while I was being interviewed by the HR director at Maryland live he asked me why I want to move to Maryland...I said that was easy Baltimore baseball laurel and pimlico....I figured giving a money speech wasn't good idea....then I slid into the I can relate with the older crowd that plays poker here....I had the director falling off the chair

I just really hate to leave my place in nj as dead as AC is

But back to topic at hand let's line up a PA meeting/outing at timonuim...I figure Maryland is not far from pa and nj

My father came down here yesterday to hit up the beach and play cards I told time I went to pimlico yesterday....that sparked a 20 minute speech on Bowie how they used to go there from nj all the time