Horse Racing Needs the Preakness to Move, and Maybe Not Just Its Date
Maryland officials question viability of racing in the state
It’s time we have a talk about the Preakness Stakes. Beyond time, probably.
It’s a race with more than 150 years of history to it. For the last 90 years, it’s served as the second leg of the Triple Crown. In recent years, though, it’s become an afterthought.
The Kentucky Derby captures everyone’s attention for a couple weeks every year, and if there is a Triple Crown on the line, the Belmont Stakes brings all American sports fans back to racing for one last Saturday before summer.
Between them, you have the Preakness. Just like Jan Brady was between Marcia and Cindy, and Fredo Corleone was between Sonny and Michael. The Preakness doesn’t deserve those comparisons, but given everything that’s happening with the race, either seems rather apt.
Earlier this week, trainer Cherie DeVaux announced she would not send her horse, Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo, to Laurel Park, which is pinch-hitting for Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course this year as work continues on a $400 million wholesale revitalization of that track, for this year’s Preakness. It’s the second year in a row that the Derby winner has bypassed the Preakness and the third time in the last five.
On top of that, there’s a better than zero chance the Preakness, which takes place a week from Saturday, will not include a horse from the Kentucky Derby. The last time that took place happened in 1922 when Pimlico and Churchill Downs ran their marquee event on the same day.
There’s more to discuss beyond that with the race, and we’ll get to that momentarily.
Triple Crown Races Need to be a Month Apart
With the Golden Tempo news, racing fans have revived the discussion of whether two weeks between Triple Crown legs is too short a timeframe. The current five-week span from the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday in May to the Belmont Stakes in June initially started in 1969.
The fact is, the current racing climate does not allow for any racehorse, much less a coronated star like the Kentucky Derby winner, to race again on two weeks’ rest. Trainers and owners now try to race their horses at least a month apart, and drug rules implemented by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority have also made it harder for horses to recover in short order.
Winning the Triple Crown should be hard, but the current landscape for the sport makes three races in five weeks almost impossible. It’s time to space the three races a month apart.
Before you say a Triple Crown won under that schedule would be a tainted achievement, consider Sir Barton, the first to win all three races, did so in 1919 when the Preakness ran four days after the Derby. Omaha in 1935 and War Admiral two years later won the Triple Crown when the Derby and Preakness were a week apart.
Do those feats minimize the Triple Crowns achieved by Secretariat, Seattle Slew, Affirmed, American Pharoah, or Justify? Not at all.
There have been reports that the Preakness could move its date as soon as next year, when a new television contract would take effect.
Moving the Preakness to the first week of June and the Belmont to July would also require NYRA to sign off on moving its race. A July Belmont would also affect Saratoga’s summer meet, which traditionally starts in early July.
Racing ‘Not Really Working’ in Maryland
All of that could be moot, though, because of what’s happening in Maryland that could impact the future of Pimlico and racing in the state in general.
On Thursday, Maryland Matters reported that state lawmakers instituted a 45-day delay in the purchase of Laurel Park and asked for a review of the state’s Stadium Authority to buy the track roughly halfway between Washington and Baltimore for $48.5 million and use it as a year-round training facility.
Nearly a year ago, the state bought a 328-acre farm for $4.5 million with plans to build a training facility there. However, environmental and other concerns about the land prompted the move to buy Laurel, which the Maryland Stadium Authority said would save the state about $50 million.
The delay led to some lawmakers and state officials questioning whether the plan to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild Pimlico is sound fiscal policy. State Treasurer Dereck Davis pondered if racing can survive in the state.
We can’t keep pouring massive amounts of dollars into this industry for the third weekend in May,” he said. “And I know, I know the conversations about year-round, but that’s not really working, which is why we’re here.”
Horse Racing Leaders Need to Take Charge
Unfortunately, none of this is new. The Preakness’ future has been cloudy at best, going back to at least 2019. At that time The Stronach Group, which owned Pimlico and Laurel at the time, proposed closing the Baltimore track, building a bigger facility at Laurel, and moving the Preakness there permanently. Baltimore leaders responded with a lawsuit.
Here we are, seven years later, and while it seems like a resolution is in place, something always seems to trip it up. This time, it’s Maryland officials publicly questioning the decision to invest in horse racing. If Maryland can’t resolve its issues, then the sport needs to assert control.
The Preakness may not be the Kentucky Derby or Belmont, but it needs to be maintained. It would be great if that were in Maryland, but that’s not a certainty. So, now is the time for racing officials to hold a talk about the Preakness. If the Preakness’ future is not in Maryland, then an alternative site (or race) needs to be identified as soon as possible.
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