Pimlico Infield
 

They were just showing the head-on of the ninth and the infield looked sparse. Was it just a bad angle or did the crowds stay away?

I thought the same thing, didnt look good at all.

Indeed..

http://www.newsday.com/sports/horser...,1320125.story

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/h...,3787731.story

I usually go down for the Preakness (not to the infield), but not this year. However, I have a friend there sitting up in the apron area. Sent me a text saying the infield is about 30% what it usually is in terms of crowds. I don't think the shots are misleading anyone.

I'd wager that they don't have 10k in the infield. And I'd also wager total attendance will be a record low - less than 45k.

no natty light..no crowd

did they ban alcohol in the infield?

no carry in.

They deserve the lost patrons. I hope the $7 beers they sold today make up for the lost admission fees and lost handle...screw em

handle was actually pretty strong at the end of the day - even moreso than last year.

The usual Preakness infield crowd doesn't gamble much-just drink themselves into oblivion and do things no self respecting person would do.

So no one got cracked on the skull
with generic beer during
the great urinal run.

Sad.

It was a sporting event.

http://sports.yahoo.com/rah/gallery#...ing_pim204%3A1

It wasn't that bad, you could get $1 beers from 8 a.m. to 11. :D

I wasn't even awake at 8 a.m.

Nothing like a hot beer and a cold hot dog at the track

Plastic cups!
How dare they attempt to
prevent massive head trauma.

The whole place is just a sewer.......

Parking $175

Tickets $120-250 for an incredibly cramped seats with no vendors, no facilities within 50-75 yards from most outside boxes or even a visible tote board from mine, never mind betting machines.

Maryland Racing is a disaster on all fronts. The lack of any customer service at Pimlico or Laurel is just one of the reasons patrons stay away. With ADW's there is absolutely nothing that MAGNA has to offer an individual given action is easily accessed at home.

Look at the betting menu, No 50 cent P4's, No P6, and no betting machines that accept money on site. Food that is worse than McDonalds and now an infield environment that lost the kids and the locals that came by the ten's of thousands on this one special day.......they just don't get it so they are dealt another devastating truth of their bankrupt future.

The girl transcended the dismal clouds and darker hosts but the day will come when the Preakness won't be synonymous with Pimlico. And racing will lose nothing in the bargain.....

You should have heard the Governor's speech after the race.
He is going to hold tight.

I was in the infield in 2002.. it was a cold, miserable day.. but it was BYOB!


http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/hor...ory?id=4171779



Handle on the day was $86,684,470, up from $73.5 million last year. Attendance dropped from 112,222 last year to an announced crowd of 77,850. The infield, always packed with college-age revelers who have just gotten out of school, was sparse, owing to a new policy instituted by Pimlico officials this year that banned patrons from bringing beer into the infield. Not only did infield fans have to buy beer from the concession stands, but the admission price was raised, too, to $60.

The record announced Pimlico crowd is 121,263, in 2007. The crowd was announced as 100,000 or more from 2001-2008, when the infield was jammed.

How is it possible that handle was up despite all those huge bettors from the infield not showing? :rolleyes:

I've never been to the Preakness but a trip to youtube to see old videos from the infield is enough to convince me that changing the alcohol policy was a terrific idea.

NT

But the beer cans upside the head...
The pageantry, the skill involved in
negotiating frictionless port-a-potty
roof tops.

Im choking up a bit here.

Well if it isn't funny the first time then give it a go a few more until people want to throw cans at your head.

:D

the infield never significantly contributed to handle... but its a real shame they ended the bringin in beer thing.... because that is what the Preakness is all about!! One big party!

the place was a ghost town this year, the corporate tents and turfside palace tickets (the big wigs) were empty all day except for the preakness race. Couldn't see the infield from my seats, but the local tv station showed a clip in the mid-afternoon where spots on the fence, which are usually gone by 8:05 were wide open. I guess the $1 beers from 8-11 and the oxygen bar didn't attract as many people as they thought. I waited for the last race to end, and it literally took me 10 min. to get onto the expressway. I've seen bigger crowds at best buy on christmas eve, sad


-bt-

I missed seeing the hott chicks barely wearing anything

Who really needs these type in attendance ? They are a nuisance .

Mr. Congeniality speaks.

Did you laugh after you set
your grandma on fire?

i was at pimlico yesterday and it was pretty thin.....the apron area was about the same but you noticed a big change in the park and ride, shuttle volume. i heard alot of folks that were in the infield complaining on the way home. i think pimlico tried to keep them happy with zztop and some decent big name bands...

Honestly, the whole bringing in your own beer thing just had to stop at the Preakness. I'm sorry, but that was just a lawsuit waiting to happen, and when you're a company in bankruptcy, I have to presume you just can't afford that kind of liability.

Incidentally, beers were $3.50 at the Preakness yesterday, which is half of what they charge at the Derby infield. As much as West Baltimore is a hole, let's be honest here, where Churchill sits in Louisville isn't exact an oasis either.

i read that beer was actually only a buck the first few hours. as one guy said, i can't get wasted...i still remember the idiot running onto the track and taking a swipe at a horse as it ran by a few years back. that moron could have been killed, or caused a really bad incident. lawsuits filed by the day, i'm surprised it took them this long too.

That was Artax leading them home. If my awful memory is correct.

It was, and he was the 6/5 favorite, and they had to refund all wagers on him. Probably cost the track $250k as they estimated something close to $2 million was bet through him.

60 dollars to sit in the infield and you can't bring in your beer?? no wonder nobody showed up. if they were going to take away the BYOB fine, but atleast lower the ticket price significantly

that's the thing, they actually raised the prices at the same time as banning byob. but, you can't really say it was a mistake, look at the handle. and i'd imagine the patrons appreciated not having the fiasco in the infield.

TVG was in the mix this year. It's not like handle has been phenomenal the past few years.

well, that's true...but an increase, especially considering the overall economy and the derby handle, has to be a good thing-add in magna's issues, and md racing on top of that. or maybe i'm just being too pollyannic.

a scary thought, all those drunks leaving..driving-yikes!