And there was this: "I couldn't find a clean port-a-potty last year, but I can this year."
City police activity offered another gauge of the quieter, calmer atmosphere. Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III said that by 2:30 p.m., officers had not evicted anyone for fighting or unruly behavior. Usually, he said, "we throw a lot out, a ton."
The difference was not just the thinner crowd but the gentler "dynamic," he said. And he pronounced it much better for the fans in attendance, whom he said were no longer "worried about getting beat up or assaulted or urinated on."
The crowd size dominated conversations yesterday. At one point in the afternoon a deejay giving out Baltimore Blast tickets could get only 10 or so people to come up to the stage. He gave two game passes to a young woman just because she was pretty.
"Definitely you can tell the presence is lighter than normal," said Mayor Sheila Dixon. But she blamed the difficult economy more than the alcohol policy. Others thought another factor might have been the cool, gray weather that descended into rain for the marquee race won by favorite Rachel Alexandra over Kentucky Derby champion Mine That Bird.
Whatever the cause, the attendance drop underscored concerns about the future of the Pimlico track and the Preakness itself. Magna Entertainment Corp., which owns both, is in bankruptcy proceedings, and Maryland horse racing has been ailing for years. The company plans to auction its Maryland assets, which also include the Laurel Park course, and state officials say they are in discussions with buyers who are pledging to keep the race in the state.
Magna officials were not available for interviews at the track on Saturday.
"We want to maintain the Preakness," Dixon said. "We know the economy has a lot to do with the turnout, but we believe it's going to come back."
There is always a lot of "hand-wringing" about the fate of the Preakness, said Gov. Martin O'Malley after a tour of the stables. He said he has spent a decade as mayor and governor answering questions about whether the race would stay.
"We're going to continue to forge ahead, continue to be persistent, continue to be relentless," O'Malley said, noting that the horse racing industry is worth $1.6 billion to Maryland and employs more than 14,000 people.
Not long after Saturday dawned, it became apparent that this would not be another shoulder-to-shoulder Preakness.
