As president and CEO of the Greater Baltimore Committee, Mark Anthony Thomas is charged with providing economic and civic leadership for the city’s private sector. When Churchill Downs Inc. announced in April its purchase of the Preakness Stakes’ intellectual property rights, Thomas felt it important to unite the community in hopes of keeping ownership of the second jewel of the Triple Crown local.
Accomplishing this required more than rallying businesses; Thomas had to show state officials a clear vision of what a Maryland-led Preakness could become. When the state took advantage of its right of first refusal on CDI’s purchase in mid-June, the first step of what Thomas and others in the state envisioned became a reality.
Thomas, whose career began in journalism before moving into economic development in Pittsburgh, New York, and Los Angeles, shared his thoughts on what it means to keep the Preakness’ rights in Maryland.
BloodHorse: What was the reaction in the community when it was learned that Churchill Downs Inc. had purchased the trademarks for the Preakness Stakes (G1)?
Mark Anthony Thomas: I would say no one actually understood what it meant. … I do remember my first gut reaction was like, “OK, that means the Preakness must be super valuable if they actually want to buy it.” So I thought it was a good thing at first.
BH: As you dived into details and the potential ramifications of it, what were the concerns that you or other people that you spoke with had with Churchill Downs having, or potentially having, that intellectual property?
MT: The primary issue was the control, and what does it mean if you have something that we all agree has way more potential than what it has really evolved into, and now relinquishing that control to an out-of-state entity? And what Churchill did do was, they articulated an economic case that was compelling, and why they saw value in the acquisition, and the type of layering of investments that they’d want to make to really transform it into a moment. But that was a shared view of at least the recent stakeholders who saw that same potential. When you analyze the cost and legal ability for the state to then utilize the first right of refusal, and then the plans that we really worked for a couple of months to fine-tune, it made sense for the state to step in.
BH: What was the response when you and others approached Gov. Wes Moore about having that right of first refusal and taking advantage of that opportunity?
MT: I would say that, if anything, Churchill had done the proper socialization of their vision, and so I would say the governor and his team didn’t necessarily have it. They weren’t pro or against it. It was more this deal has happened. How do we align with Churchill and what the Preakness can be? And so the gap of two months was more: How do you articulate that local stakeholders have a vision and can execute a strategy that really can actually be more compelling than what Churchill had promised?
BH: And I imagine that there was a coalition of community leaders that were really pushing to keep the rights in state. Who else was involved?
MT: So I would say this: There was coordination among at least the business community and the (Maryland) Jockey Club, and if there were other voices, it wasn’t like there was one unified voice. We probably just had the most crystallized case that obviously put capital behind ensuring the proper due diligence was done.
BH: Everyone knows from its track record that Churchill Downs has had endless success with the Kentucky Derby. This wasn’t really about CDI, and it was more about keeping the Preakness in Maryland, right?
Mark Anthony Thomas (center) at Laurel Park
MT: No one questioned their capabilities. I think it was more a question of the state’s long-term investment. I also took the view of this … for Maryland to be successful, it can’t be the Derby. It has to be something that is uniquely grounded in creating a Maryland showcase that people want to actually come experience. I had this experience. I was in New York, where I worked for the New York City Economic Development Corporation, and every event across the globe, Europe, Israel, and other places, will say we want to do the same thing in New York, and it’s like that’s in a very different environment. You really have to build something that people think is unique to that market, and I think Churchill’s intentions were on target, but we definitely leaned into the fact that to deliver that would actually be more effective if you could actually empower the local entities, local brands, and local companies to create something that is grounded in Maryland.
BH: So perhaps even more impressive is that in a pretty short amount of time, you’re able to get multiple voices to sort of get onto the same key. Talk about that process because usually on something like this, if not everyone is in step with each other, either things are going to fall apart or this is going to take a whole lot longer than two months to sync up.
MT: I’ve been in my role now three and a half years … and we’ve actually become a centralized convening power for Maryland. That is very different than a chamber of commerce, and so the ability to analyze all the aspects of any major investment transaction is really what economic organizations are good at. We’re just powered by companies, and so you combine those two, we can respond and rally very quickly.
BH: Why does local ownership matter?
MT: Because it gives us control of what the Preakness becomes. There is obviously the race itself that we need to amplify. There are the major investments the state is putting into the facilities that should be year-round activated, cultural hubs, but then the festival and the true economic multiplier come from hotel rooms and adjacent events and brands hosting major activations. And what the Preakness is, when you look at our market, it barely scratches the surface of the potential.
BH: So, with that in mind, you know horse racing has taken its fair share of bumps in recent years. Maryland has seen this firsthand. Why do the state and the regional community believe this is an industry worth investing in?
MT: It’s one of our largest industries. I guess number three, as far as job density and economic impact. So Maryland has to pursue new industries, but needs to continue to invest in those other foundations. So it’s that, and then I do have this view that even if horse racing takes a hit, the Triple Crown races could become the winner-take-all for the industry, and we at least have that opportunity to win in that league.
BH: Now that the state has stepped up. What are the next steps? What does the community and the business community need to do to ensure the health and the success of the industry and the Preakness, for that matter?
MT: It’s actually what the (Maryland) Jockey Club is working on now, is start to build out the plan that they get the most of the (intellectual property) acquired, and so we’ll be involved, obviously, in helping them succeed, and they’ll actually deepen their relationship with GBC. We will take the lead on what is a long-term economic, cultural impact of the Preakness and the horse racing industry, and then what pieces need to come together to really transform it into a Maryland moment.
BH: With the reopening of Pimlico next year and the Preakness gets to return home, what things can people already start to anticipate or look forward to surrounding that celebration?
MT: One is that it will be just a bigger moment. I feel Maryland’s actually gotten better at celebrating cultural moments in ways that it hadn’t in the past. Now we host the CIAA college tournament, and that’s actually one of our largest sporting events. So people come from all the (Historic Black Colleges and Universities) and have events. We host the Sail 250, and have thousands of people visiting to see the ships. We’ve had these moments where people are saying, “Well, OK, when we truly lean into this, it actually can be a big deal, and everyone can be a part of it.” Preakness—you’ll hear people who grew up here say it used to have that type of (appeal) and it lost it. And the new track allows us to put it back on that path to be something great.
Journalism wins the 2025 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course
BH: How difficult of a lift is that when you had something that stopped having as much appeal? How hard is it actually to bring it back up?
MT: I’m actually pretty optimistic. I think the intentionality that it requires to make anything successful, you finally have the right players at the table that can deliver that. Baltimore, in my three years, our crime is at record lows. We’re tackling other issues that have somewhat hampered the city from being attractive. While you have major entities better organized to pursue opportunities, it’s supposed to be the perfect environment for us to create some major momentum.
BH: What haven’t we touched on that you think would be important for readers to know about what you and other leaders in the city and the state are doing for the Preakness and for racing in general?
MT: I would say more broadly, the business community and the government team are leaning into sports and culture. You see this just with my peers, what’s happening in Las Vegas, obviously the World Cup is underway, where people are seeing that there’s true economic opportunity if you can successfully be hubs for these types of activities. So we don’t actually have to track anything. We have to have something here that’s homegrown that can be better invested in and, to me, that’s a winning strategy.
