Farewell to Laurel and Pimlico if......
 

.....this new bidder gets the properties.


http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/h...,3344981.story

That would be a great "neighborhood shopping destination," what, with all the crack and needles and whatnot. If you've watched the Wire, think Hamsterdam, seriously.

Maryland racing is such a joke right now. It's a pity.

I also love how that particular bidder suggests they should hold the race at Timonium. Really? You really think Timonium could handle 120,000 people on a Saturday?

http://www.drf.com/news/article/102658.html

to let these properties go to someone who has no intention of keeping the preakness and instead developing real esate in these "marquee" spots could be the final kick in the nuts for the race fans. I'm not saying its not out of the question that this will not happen, but i would like to think someone with some smarts would like to keep racing in MD especially now that the knew slot bill has passed, call me crazy



-bt-

Wait a minute...

APRIL 3, 2009: Baltimore Sun
So far, Verstandig is the only potential bidder for the Maryland tracks with no interest in buying the Preakness, whose fate has been the source of anxiety among state lawmakers and the racing industry.

Maybe it's me, but I'm confused... A day earlier, article author Hanah Clo filed this story noting that Cordish Cos. were readying a bid for Maryland's racing entities.. Then she writes 24 hours later that Verstandig is the only potenial bidder? WTF?

APRIL 2, 2009: Baltimore Sun
Baltimore developer David S. Cordish revealed Wednesday that his company will bid to buy Laurel Park, Pimlico Race Course and the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of horse racing's Triple Crown, which are up for sale by their bankrupt owner.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/business...,1845372.story

Steve - think she was saying that Verstandig is the only potential bidder who has no plans to buyt he Preakness, as in, the other bidders want to run the tracks and he's the only one who wants to demolish them.

My computer sucks so I can't open the link, but could the line "with no interest in buying the Preakness" hold the answer? Maybe there are multiple bidders, and Verstandig is the only one that will demolish Pimlico.

Again, can't read the article. Might be way off base here.

What a shortsighted tool. F*ck him. Run it at TIMONIUM?!??? I'm sorry, but the neighborhood around Pimlico has no appeal WHAT SO EVER as a shopping destination. Who on God's Green Earth would choose to get off the Light Rail at Falls Road when you have a huge, beautiful shopping complex in Hunt Valley a few stops later?

Honestly, I think he has a 0% chance of winning with that attitude. Cordish would probably be the frontrunners right now.

I wish I had money. I'd buy Pimlico and Laurel and restore Maryland racing to it's rightful place ahead of WV, PA, DE as the center of the Mid-Atlantic.

The goons at PA organized a "buycott" of a race at Will Rogers Downs. I say we as a group organize a "buycott" of Pimlico's entire meet to show the viability of MD racing.

Considering the entire Pimlico meet is like 10 days this year, I'm not quite sure how effective that would be, sadly.

Three potential candidates have emerged:

1) Cordish Co. - a developer masquerading as a racetrack buyer

2) Heritage Racing LLC - organized on Mar 29 - "to purchase, acquire, buy, own, hold, develop......Pimlico Race Course....to maintain the Preakness...."
http://sdatcert3.resiusa.org/UCC-Cha...rSearch_f.aspx

type in "Heritage Racing" in the name search box, then click the eye on the next page to view the Articles. Principal address is the same floor as Angelos' offices.

3) American Realty LLC - the article linked in my first post. This is the guy that wants to raze both properties.

The ONLY positive in the latest potential bidder, IMO, is that it might force the MD Gov't through the MD Stadium Authority to build a supertrack in downtown Baltimore near Camden Yards and Ravens Stadium if the guys wins.

Report is, he's got cash!!!! Cash is king!!!!

Marylanders haven't been rooting for an Angelos entity this hard in years.

Man, this really sucks!! I don't want to see either track go away. I know they have to change hands due to the Magna bankruptcy, but I'd like to see them both remain racetracks. As the article points out, Pimlico can't handle year round racing. And that's a long way from the 10 day meet slotdirt referred to.

that is what i took it to mean..

horseracing as we used to know it is gone.........soon there will be no more pimlico, hollywood park, santa anita, laurel.......its sad.

I hope you're wrong. I'm still angry about losing Garden State Park, and that was years ago.

I went to two different proms at Garden State Park while it was still in existence. The state and county has still not done a whole lot with that land.

Considering the spin-the-wheel results that Laurel produced in the Magna 5 this year, I think they should race 3 days a year in Maryland. Start the Thursday before the Preakness, and have each race be worth atleast 50k on Thursday. Have only 75k-and-above stakes races on Friday and Saturday.

can Annapolis screw this up anymore?
 

As crappy as it gets in Maryland, I just don't see how they could ever move the Preakness somewhere else.

if i understand it, the state has the rights on the name "Preakness". the race can move but the name will change. after the colts fiasco, the state locked up the names associated with maryland.
who cares if maryland keeps the name Preakness, they better find a way to keep the tracks open to have a place to run a race.:zz:

I figured the links don't mention Halsey Minor or folks would be talking about it so I didn't click on them, but I have read he wants to buy MEC assets if I remember correctly. Not Gulfstream because of Hialeah, but sounded like he had a good deal for them. Has that changed?

ETA: http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-raci...ost-mec-assets
He would also keep racing at Golden Gate Fields.

Move the race to Philly Park and call it The Freakness.

The Preakness wouldn't feel like the Preakness if it were held anywhere but Pimlico.

I mean it's part of the test to race it at Pimlico......

You take the standard test at Churchill Downs....

then you see if you can handle the sharper turns at Pimlico....

then you see if you can handle the longer turns at Belmont

It's tradition!!!!

The only problem with that is the turns aren't actually sharper at Pimlico than they are at Churchill.

good luck with that. some myths just won't die.

i saw the other day that the state might use eminent domain in an effort to keep the track and the preakness. or at the very least, the preakness. of course you can't have a race without a venue to hold the race....should be interesting.

ironic tho that the state sat on its hands for years when everyone was screaming for help-and now they're suddenly in crisis mode.

Our fine legislature and Gov are now trying to shove the eminant domain issue through to not only acquire the Preakness but all of Magna's Maryland assets.

This is the same legislature that has spent the last 6 years crushing MD racing, and now they're going to "save" it by eminant domain in less than a week.

http://www.abc2news.com/news/local/s...596kzCtTA.cspx

It just gets more crazy by the minute......

It's one thing to lose Laurel and Pimlico; it's entirely another to lose the Preakness itself. I don't know this for fact, but I would have to imagine the Preakness is the single biggest economic event in Maryland during the course of any given year. If I were the state of Maryland, I'd sure as shootin' be using any means possible to keep the race in house.

You know, if this was the Belmont Stakes in trouble at Belmont Park, instead of the Preakness at Pimlico, the lawmakers would see the event and the track as being inseparable. Amazing what's in a name. It enables them to think they can relocate the race with negligible impact -- in other words they are only concerned about the marketing.

Companies have been doing that for years. A Cadillac is what we say it is. Oh, well the Cadillac Cimmaron is not the same as a Chevy Cavalier even though 90% of the parts are the same and the Cimmaron costs twice as much to buy, or repair (since we know we can get it)...

i don't know about that-it might be the biggest one day event, but i doubt that economically it would hurt that state a whole lot. maryland has a lot of other stuff going on, and going for it. but i think they should do whatever they can to save it. it's certainly one of the most prestigious events in maryland.

Maryland has other stuff going for it? Really?

lol

tourism. baseball, football...

i haven't been there in years, but surely it still has it's strong points? i just meant that there is life in md other than on preakness day.

That's true, but can you imagine what the economic impact of taking the Derby out of Louisville would be? I don't suspect it would be much different in Baltimore.

i recently read that Pimlico's operating budget for the year is based on preakness week.
it will greatly hurt the city and county of baltimore and i'm sure trickle over to other places in the state. think of the amounts of tourism moneys, spent that week.

i'm sure there'd be an impact. a far greater impact would be the loss of laurel and pimlico. the far-reaching affects on horsemen and farms in the state would be disastrous.

preakness bill signed
 

it just keeps getting better
 

:zz:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/h...,4184368.story