For all of the wet weather and gloomy skies at Pimlico Race Course this week, the winds of change have been swirling in Maryland for much longer than a week or even a year.
Alan Foreman, a longtime Maryland racing leader and an architect of the Maryland redevelopment plan, remembers talking about substantive plans to change the face of the sport in the state for at least six years.
“It’s been six years since 2019 when I was brought in to help figure out this situation,” he said. “The world has been skeptical of this plan for a long time. People lost focus of it or think it won’t happen, and to this day I get it. But it is happening now.”
Indeed it is. Finally.
On May 17, the 150th edition of the Preakness Stakes (G1) will mark the last one at what will eventually be known as the old Pimlico Race Course.
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There’s a new operator at Pimlico in the new, nonprofit Maryland Jockey Club, taking over from 1/ST Racing and the previous version of the Maryland Jockey Club.
Laurel Park will be shuttered in a few years and horsemen who cannot gets stalls at Pimlico will eventually have a new $110 million training center in Woodbine, Md., which is about a 25-minute drive from Baltimore. Construction on the facility at Shamrock Farm is expected to begin by the start of 2026.
And best of all, in time for the 2027 Preakness, there will be a smaller but much more modern facility at Pimlico that will serve as the year-round home for racing in the state.
“For a lot of people it’s bittersweet but very exciting at the same time,” said Bill Knauf, a former Monmouth Park executive who is now president and general manager of the Maryland Jockey Club. “A lot of people feel it’s something that has been talked about for a long time in Maryland and I can appreciate the excitement of it actually happening. Once everyone sees the images of the building coming down, it’s another indication that something new is coming.”
Once Saturday’s final race is contested, work on dismantling Pimlico will proceed full bore with the demolition of the grandstand/clubhouse structure—where the grandstand is already condemned and closed—expected to start in June.
“It’s been a historic building but it’s time,” Knauf said. “Everybody agrees with that. It’s had a great run but it has run its course. There are renderings posted that show we are going to honor the history and traditions of Baltimore and Pimlico. It will be historic but modernized for today’s amenities.”
While Pimlico’s racing surfaces will not be altered, the new grandstand/clubhouse will be considerably smaller, housing maybe 6,000-8,000 fans on a regular basis.
“It’s not finalized but attendance will be 6,000-8,000. We will also have infrastructure in the stretch and infield that can house whatever we will need for Preakness or Black-Eyed Susan days. We haven’t decided on an attendance for the Preakness day, though it will be a substantial number with temporary structures,” Knauf said. “It’s the right size for the vast majority of the time but then we can flex up for the Preakness and Black-Eyed Susan. Maybe there’s a Breeders’ Cup down the line and we will have Maryland Million Day. Hopefully there’s a lot of big days like that. We want to bring excitement and increased attendance on a daily basis and put Maryland racing back on the map.”
Knauf said the construction work will provide an opportunity to perform any necessary work on the dirt and turf courses to prepare for a far more extensive use of Pimlico.
“We will have to make some adjustments for winter racing but the Pimlico surface has always been raved about as a consistent surface and one the horsemen love running on it,” Knauf said. “They’re already excited about the chance to run on Pimlico’s surfaces all year long.”
As for Pimlico’s infield on Preakness day, what was once the home of the part man/part horse Kegasus, a decision has not made about the infield festivals conducted by 1/ST Racing that over the years have featured top musical acts for the younger generations and discount pricing on heavily consumed alcoholic beverages.
“We haven’t finalized plans for infield activities,” Knauf said. “The goal is to provide something for everyone. The high-end hospitality tents are there (in the infield) and you get a unique feel for the stretch run. It’s worked well for years. We also recognize we want to offer something for the general admission fan to enjoy in the infield. I’m not sure if that includes music but we will have a nice program to showcase Pimlico. We’ll explore all of that.”
Knauf also said the MJC is considering constructing a sportsbook at Pimlico and fixed-odds wagering could be on the more immediate horizon.
“We can add a sportsbook and we’ll look at that,” Knauf said. “We’ve already talked with our horsemen and the racing commission about fixed odds and I can foresee us dipping our toes into it. When I was at Monmouth, the people using fixed odds loved it.”
Even with the new management having control of day-to-day racing in Maryland, 1/ST Racing, the previous operator, will still be in the picture for the next year and a half. It will conduct the Black-Eyed Susan and Preakness cards this year at Pimlico and in 2026 at Laurel Park. Then in 2027 and beyond 1/ST Racing will receive a license fee and a percentage of the handle for those days.
After Saturday, Laurel Park, which is owned by 1/ST Racing, will become the home to Maryland racing until Pimlico reopens.
“We have to be out of Laurel by Jan. 1, 2028, or we will have to pay rent to be there,” Foreman said. “It’s in everyone’s best interest to be done by then.”
In recent years, the relationship between Maryland horsemen and 1/ST was contentious, to say the least, but Knauf said the atmosphere has been more tranquil now that the new MJC has the reins.
“Since I’ve been here I have had nothing but positive relationships with the horsemen. The nature of the relationship is different than with a private operator. We are a non-profit that was formed by the State of Maryland. We are here for the racing industry and the community.
“When we can hopefully turn a profit down the road, the profits will go to the racing industry and local community. I’ve worked closely and effectively with horsemen at Monmouth and have found the same type of relationship here.”
And so as the sun sets on the old Pimlico, there will be a wide array of emotions after Saturday’s final race.
Nostalgia will generate sadness given all of the great moments associated with the track and the Preakness.
Yet for others, it’s the future of the sport that matters more than the building. The decaying, crumbling 75-year-old facility that took so long to replace, to them was a sign of dark times that will finally give way to a much brighter future.
“I’m not sad to see it go. Pimlico highlights one of racing’s biggest problems. The sport has failed to modernize in the face of tremendous competition from other sports that are thriving because they made their facilities destinations that people want to see,” Foreman said. “If you are going to develop a new core group of fans, you need facilities that can compete with other sports and Pimlico personified what’s wrong with this sport. Not only is it exciting to have new facilities that will invigorate the horse racing industry, but they will spur redevelopment in the area. You’ve seen it happen in other sports and hopefully in time it can happen here.”
