May 22, 2005|By Kevin Van Valkenburg and Ken Murray | Kevin Van Valkenburg and Ken Murray,SUN STAFF
On Preakness Saturday, the infield grass at Pimlico Race Course has always looked, for the most part, like someone took a scene from MTV's Spring Break, crossed it with Caligula's Rome and blended it with passages from Dante's Inferno and the final half hour of Apocalypse Now.
To be blunt, it's a celebration of sin, and though it has virtually nothing to do with the horse race, over the years it has woven its way into Baltimore's internal fabric, for better or worse. The infield is one of the few places left in America where women can expose their breasts and men can relieve themselves in front of police officers without worrying about the repercussions.
In the grandstands, they may wear fancy hats and expensive shoes, and they may drink Black-Eyed Susans and exchange stock tips, but in the infield, it's cheap beer, marijuana smoke and flip-flops. Portable stereos blast music that no one seems to pay much attention to, including at one point yesterday, the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil." And as long as you adhere to the only rule ever enforced - no fighting - it's basically a consequence-free zone.
"This is the only place where you can do pretty much anything, and it doesn't matter," said Katie Harris, a senior at Towson University. And though police estimated the infield crowd at just under 90,000, most people - both drunk and sober - said they felt the scene was more subdued this year.
"I think it's a lot more civil than it used to be," said Todd Ward, a student from Ohio Wesleyan University who was attending his third Preakness. "There seems to be a lot less fighting and a lot less alcoholism."
"I'm really amazed that someone doesn't just rifle a full beer at a horse during a race," said Phil Giambanco, a Boston University student. "I think for the most part, kids are cool, but I'm really surprised that more bad stuff doesn't happen."
Plenty of bad stuff still does happen, said Danny Platt, the president of LifeStar Response. An average of 20 to 25 people have to be taken to the hospital by ambulance each year.
"Most of the [ambulance] transports are really just because someone drank too much," Platt said. "Most of our responses are cuts and bruises. Thankfully, it's usually not more serious than that."
Just don't ask most people in the infield for betting tips. More than one person seemed surprised to learn there was even a race being run. John Codi and his friends passed the time playing drinking games on a pingpong table they carried into the infield.
"It's kind of surprising, really," said Codi, who said security just waved him through at the gate. "They'll let you bring in anything, I guess."
Even in the infield, people expressed concern that this might be Maryland's last Preakness, something Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. adamantly vowed wouldn't happen during the post-race trophy presentation.
"To be honest, I think the biggest problem [Pimlico has] is with promotions," said Steve Flannigan, who said he plans to attend all three legs of the Triple Crown this year.
"They keep promoting the Preakness, but people already know about the Preakness. Look at this. There's 110,000 people here. They're going to come to this anyway. It's the other stuff that they should be focusing on."
Another zero for Zito
It was another sobering Saturday for trainer Nick Zito, who ran five horses in the Kentucky Derby and three more in the Preakness without hitting the board. Yesterday's trio of Sun King (fourth), Noble Causeway (sixth) and High Fly (10th) all finished well behind the pace.
"No excuses," Zito said. "[Jockey Jerry] Bailey said that High Fly was slipping around out there from the word go. Noble Causeway, the jockey [Gary Stevens] said he tried.
"Sun King ran a good race to be fourth. It is disappointing for what we're trying to accomplish, but really it's not that disappointing. There's always somebody better."
No local upset
Maryland-bred Malibu Moonshine ran eighth in the race, and trainer King Leatherbury considered that acceptable given the circumstances.
"Considering the competition, he didn't run all that bad a race and I enjoyed the Preakness experience," Leatherbury said.
As expected, Going Wild, under trainer D. Wayne Lukas, was out of his element in this field and finished last after helping set the early pace.
"Those fractions were too much for my horse," Lukas said of the 23.17 and 46.07 start. "I don't think he's got the quality for these. He's one-dimensional. But we'll be back for another shot another year."
Closing Argument, the fourth favorite in the betting, finished ninth after a bad trip.
"My horse did not like the track today," said jockey Cornelio Velasquez. "He broke well, but I had to do a bit of a check on the first turn, and after that he didn't ... run his best race."
Shirt slogans
The five best T-shirts spotted yesterday that can be shared in a family newspaper:
5. If found, please return to the Pimlico infield.
4. Talk Derby to Me.
3. Marijuana ... at least it's not crack.
