PREAKNESS STAYS PUT ~ (Update: State/Horsemen to run MJC in 'Pimlico Plus' plan)
 

This is welcome and wonderful news.. inspiring against long odds. And everyone wins. Baltimore, Park Heights, The Triple Crown, the Maryland Jockey Club & Laurel too.. Congratulations to all that made this happen, particularly Alan Foreman who will join us on ATR Monday with the remarkable story and details.

'Historic’ deal aims to keep Preakness in Baltimore

https://www.baltimoresun.com/marylan...gze-story.html

The city of Baltimore and the owners of the historic but dilapidated Pimlico Race Course have come up with a way to keep the prestigious Preakness Stakes at the 149-year-old track in Northwest Baltimore.

The parties briefed The Baltimore Sun on the deal that could end vexing problems that have lingered for decades over funding for improvements, sports fans’ changing tastes, and tensions between local leaders, neighbors and the operators of the track. Last winter, the city sued the track owner, and officials of The Stronach Group said they were committed to holding the Preakness at Pimlico only through 2020.

Now, The Stronach Group has pledged to donate the land to the city or an entity created by the city for development in and around the track. Pimlico’s antiquated grandstand and clubhouse would be demolished. A new clubhouse would be built and the track rotated 30 degrees to the northeast to create nine parcels of land that could be sold for private development.

In all, Pimlico would receive $199.5 million as part of the project. Training and stable operations would be consolidated at The Stronach Group’s track at Laurel Park in Anne Arundel County, which would receive $173.4 million for improvements. The Stronach Group would look to divest itself of the Bowie Training Center.

When I read this article, I had a very different impression.

This agreement leaves the Preakness to be run on the same physical ground, but with a different race track (rotated 30 degrees), different grandstand, and no local stabling. Bowie will be divested from the Stronach portfolio resulting undoutedly in its final closure as a thoroughbred center and the short "new pimlico" (small "p") two-week meeting would surely not include a turf course with its expense.

All of this to leave a single two-minutes per year of horse racing focus in Northwest Baltimore?

Why not invest in a site that would have a longer term integrated story with Maryland or mid-Atlantic racing if some $350M is being spent? Honestly, it makes more sense to recast the Triple Crown without the Preakness at Pimlico/pimlico. Why not just allow the naming rights to the "Preakness" go to the highest bidder and move the race to that track?

Agree..this doesn't make sense for 2 minutes..the whole thing needs changed

Was moving the Preakness to Laurel an option ?

Of course there's a turf course for Pimlico. And a Tapeta winter surface for Laurel.

PROJECT DETAILS: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/5czsul7ka...cept+Plans.pdf

Looks really nice. Perfect mix of modern simplicity. Appropriate size and multi-use for what amounts to 2 days of racing a year. So glad the Preakness is staying in Baltimore!

Track remains an unchanged one mile oval.

The circumference might be the same, but this will be a physically different racetrack than the one over which the storied Preakness has been contested.

Let me share the broader concern regarding this new "clubhouse" and development. According to the prospectus, accomodations for approximately 50,000 are discussed in the PDF including infield areas. It would seem that some permanent structures are being built inside the oval, similar to how Chelmsford Racecourse was built in the UK.

If the current facility holds 100,000+ on Preakness Friday/Saturday, either they will limit the crowd through admission tickets or some other vehicle. That problem can be solved surely.

If you look at the "New Meadowlands", a smaller grandstand was built to handle today's modern day crowd. In the process, attendance for the Hambletonian has gone from 50,000+ to 12,000.

The point being that you cannot design a facilty for both 5,000 people and 100,000 people and hope to achieve the best experience on both ends of the spectrum.

For the life of me, I do not understand why a $100M uplift to the existing facility cannot be done with land sales forecast from the updated plan. Yes, you will not have nine industrial lots, but you will certainly have some.

Every racetrack, including Belmont and Churchill, are 'different' racetracks every time work has been done to their bases or materials added to their cushions.

You're reaching again.

Not really.

I want the turns to be no tighter than they are now. I'm too invested in this whole 'not tighter than Churchill no matter what some people try to claim' thing. ;)

VIDEO OF PRESENTATION 10/9 AT LRL

PIMLICO/LAUREL PLAN

Ship of Theseus.

:eek:


:tro:

Thank you for sharing the video replay. At least I have seen the material presented first hand.

The presentation brings me back to one of the very first questions I raised in this thread which happened to be the number one tenet in this proposal : Why is keeping the Preakness in Northwest Baltimore the absolute unbendable criteria? I now understand that this solution's genesis starts with that as an axiom, not a decision.

Assuming that this proposal moves forward, construction will likely take several years; conservatively at least one Preakness will be relocated, perhaps to Laurel. I wonder once that first Preakness at Laurel is held whether some folks start saying "gee, was that really so bad?"

Good luck to those involved in this project.

Can I have potpourri for $1000, Alex?

Redevelopment legislation process underway: https://www.baltimoresun.com/politic...3nu-story.html

Hearings go without a hitch.. Bowie arrangements among final details: https://www.baltimoresun.com/politic...jwq-story.html