At its northernmost end, the vast grandstand of Pimlico Race Course is held aloft by a series of timbers likely milled and erected during the administration of President Grover Cleveland.
A bolt here and bracket there have kept them straight and strong for more than a century. Such patching has kept Pimlico open longer than all but one other American race course. Still, the partial blackout during the Preakness eight days ago drew attention to the deteriorating condition of Old Hilltop, which is more of a relic than a museum piece.
Fans, horsemen, and regulators have complained for years about Pimlico. The state is studying the possibility of taking it over. Some sportswriters have even suggested the track be dropped from the Triple Crown and another race substituted -- a unlikely event, but the mere mention of it demonstrates how far Pimlico's reputation has fallen.
"The backstretch is really dilapidated. Pipes are giving out. The wiring is going bad. I think if they are going to keep racing, then they need to upgrade," said Hubert "Sonny" Hine, a trainer with bases in New York, Florida and Kentucky who got his start in Maryland and has competed in six Preakness Stakes.
Hine said he is always treated well at Pimlico by the staff and management. But the facility doesn't compare well to its two Triple Crown sisters, Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., and Belmont Park in New York.
"Those two other parks are much better than Pimlico. No doubt about that," Hine said.
Churchill Downs and Triple Crowns Productions Inc. president Thomas Meeker declined to comment on Pimlico, other than to say through a spokesman that dropping the track from the Triple Crown "has never been discussed, and it's not an issue worth discussing."
Safe, but out of date
Martin P. Azola, vice president of facilities for the Maryland Jockey Club, owner of both Pimlico and Laurel Park, said the company budgeted $993,000 for capital improvements to Pimlico this year. The entrance way was renovated, new motors installed in the air conditioning units and a mini-museum built to display track artifacts.
Pimlico is structurally safe and sound but functionally out of date, he said. A big part of the problem is that the sport has changed since even the newest portions of the complex were designed, when Pimlico's summer meets consisted of only live racing viewed from open-air grandstands. There was no need for heat, air conditioning or television monitors.
