Pimlico Needs An Auxiliary Finish Line

[Clocker]

Originally Posted by Tom

They only race a couple of weeks every year - and that will soon end,

Why bother?

I didn't realize how short is was. I just looked, and their "season" is 12 racing days. How can it be cost effective to spend the money to get a track ready for 12 days?

Stronach owns Pimlico and Laurel. The company seems intent on moving the race to Laurel, but says it would not be ready to do so in time for the 2020 race.

Maryland law directs that the Preakness may only be transferred to another in-state track "as a result of disaster or emergency." It further stipulates that if the Preakness is transferred out-of-state, the state racing commission "may revoke any racing days awarded" to the Maryland Jockey Club and award them to a different company.

A law suit, filed by Mayor Catherine Pugh on behalf of the city, seeks to prevent the company from moving the Preakness to Laurel Park and seeks to take ownership of Pimlico via condemnation. Under the fifth amendment to the United States Constitution, governments may seize private property "for public use" as long as they pay "just compensation."

Baltimore City has a bill pending in the state legislature that would create a study group to determine how to fund a new Pimlico, which the Maryland Stadium Authority suggested in December would cost more than $400 million.

If Pimlico is a mess now, imagine if the City of Baltimore was running it.



https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-rac...stronach-group

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by Clocker

I didn't realize how short is was. I just looked, and their "season" is 12 racing days. How can it be cost effective to spend the money to get a track ready for 12 days?

Stronach owns Pimlico and Laurel. The company seems intent on moving the race to Laurel, but says it would not be ready to do so in time for the 2020 race.

A law suit, filed by Mayor Catherine Pugh on behalf of the city, seeks to prevent the company from moving the Preakness to Laurel Park and seeks to take ownership of Pimlico via condemnation. Under the fifth amendment to the United States Constitution, governments may seize private property "for public use" as long as they pay "just compensation."

If Pimlico is a mess now, imagine if the City of Baltimore was running it.



https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-rac...stronach-group

The lawsuit is BS. Stronach can run the race wherever he wants. The only possible issue is he might have to change the name of it.

[elhelmete]

Originally Posted by Thomas Roulston

Pimlico's stretch is 1,152 feet long - 3 feet shorter than Oaklawn, which does use an auxiliary finish line.

Not having an available distance between 6 furlongs and 1 1/16 miles on the dirt must really hurt Pimlico.

So while they're banning Lasix at Pimlico, is it too much to ask of the Stronachs to give us 1-mile dirt races there? And it would also mean that if a 1-mile grass race is taken off the turf, it could be run on the main track at 1 mile instead of 1 1/16 miles.

And a mule needs a spinning wheel.

(credit to Lyle Langley)

[TheGarMan]

An auxiliary finish line?

I would be happy with a roof that doesn't leak on me..

[Tom]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

The lawsuit is BS. Stronach can run the race wherever he wants. The only possible issue is he might have to change the name of it.

How about "Not Baltimore's Preakness!"

[Tom]

Originally Posted by TheGarMan

An auxiliary finish line?

I would be happy with a roof that doesn't leak on me..

Pimlico is my favorite track. Been there a few times.
Even considering the slanted floor in the ground floor men's room that sometimes creates a tide, but not of water!

Love the place.
Can't wait for 12 days of live racing.
From at home, in my dry handicapping room!

[cj]

Originally Posted by Tom

Pimlico is my favorite track. Been there a few times.
Even considering the slanted floor in the ground floor men's room that sometimes creates a tide, but not of water!

Love the place.
Can't wait for 12 days of live racing.
From at home, in my dry handicapping room!

Can't tell you how many times I caught the bus/subway/shuttle combo to get to Pimlico from Brooklyn. It was 15 miles away and took me 90 minutes. Always got my handicapping in on the way.

[Tom]

Coming there from FL, it was the "big league!"
It just feels like a real racetrack.
I would love to make one more trip there.

[Afleet]

been to 3 Preakness stakes-always liked it. The ceilings were leaking in the 90's when I was there. Saw Andy Beyer one year. I sat in the now condemned section of the grandstands and stepped through one of the wooden steps-thought I was going to get swollowed up! And I was much thinner then

[Thomas Roulston]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

Yeah, (1) it's not changing, (2) 1 3/16 miles is actually a perfect distance to run over a 9 furlong track and (3) even if you did want to change the distance (which you don't), you would actually want to make it shorter so the TC was a greater test of versatility.

Pimlico is a 1-mile track - not a 9-furlong track.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by Thomas Roulston

Pimlico is a 1-mile track - not a 9-furlong track.

I was referring to if it moved to LRL.

[Tom]

Originally Posted by Afleet

been to 3 Preakness stakes-always liked it. The ceilings were leaking in the 90's when I was there. Saw Andy Beyer one year. I sat in the now condemned section of the grandstands and stepped through one of the wooden steps-thought I was going to get swollowed up! And I was much thinner then

They were leaking in 1979!

[PhantomOnTour]

I'll be back again this year, but it may be the last time for us.
Dad just can't navigate that huge Sat crowd anymore. Two knee replacements, 78yrs old, and those sloped floors and concourses give him real trouble.
It's bittersweet and almost brings a tear to my eye....21yrs we've been going, and the thought of moving the race saddens me. We surely will not attend a Preakness at Laurel.

We'll make the best of it this year and pray that when we leave on Sat evening that it will not have been our last trip to Pimlico, and the last racing trip I take with my brother and father, whom I love so much.

I can't wait to sit next to dad in that dump just a few more times

[Robert Fischer]

Originally Posted by Tom

They were leaking in 1979!

That was my first Preakness. Spectacular Bid...

3 months old, infield at the 1/8 pole w/ father, mother, uncle, friends.

Supposedly the infield crowd✌️🎸🍺🐎 was pushing towards the vantage point before/during the race.

*Spoiler* I survived.

[Zman179]

I always go to Pimlico, but on one of the other days not involving the Preakness. There’s nothing like going to an old time racetrack. I just never thought years ago that Pimlico would be part of the "leaky roof circuit"