Pimlico

After carefully reading your front page story about slots in relation to Tuesday's election ("Maryland Jockey Club to curtail operations," Nov. 3), it would seem that one solution that would solve many of the problems of Baltimore City, the Maryland Jockey Club, the state of Maryland and the average citizen would be to reconsider slots at Pimlico Race Course . I know the residents of the area raised a mild protest, which sent all politicians and state and local officials scampering away from the idea.

The Breeders' Cup, created as a roving championship of thoroughbred racing, shunned Louisville's Churchill Downs this week and announced it would return to Santa Anita Park in 2014 for a third consecutive year. Santa Anita, of course, is owned by the Stronach Group, which also owns Pimlico and Laurel. The same company is investing more than $100 million into its Gulfstream Park facility in Florida to turn it back into a Breeders' Cup-worthy venue . With massive renovations being drawn up for Pimlico, I thought it might be a good time to ask Maryland Jockey Club president Tom Chuckas if he thought Old Hilltop could ever host the Breeders' Cup. He laughed and said, "In this world, anything is possible.

Pimlico racecourse chose cheap-and-dirty over environmentally-responsible when it came time to "clean up" after the Preakness ("Preakness crowd big, but cleanup goes fast," May 17). I would bet at least 50 percent of the 100 tons of refuse carted off to the incinerator was recyclable. They wanted to get their hourly workers out of there as quickly as possible rather than do the right thing for the environment. As the worker interviewed in the piece said, she wished it had been possible to separate out recyclables.

With a new long-term racing deal in place, increased breeding activity in the state and planned improvements to Maryland's two thoroughbred tracks, horse racing seems to be barreling toward a brighter future in a state where it had once been so important. Bettors have been slower to catch on, though. Total handle at Pimlico Race Course for the 36-day meet increased 12 percent to $188 million, the track announced Tuesday. But the per-day handle dropped 12 percent,  from $5.2 million to $4.6 million, thanks in part to seven racing days added so that the meet would span the entire length of the Triple Crown.

Ever since I saw Eliza Doolittle at the horse race in "My Fair Lady," I dreamed of experiencing a horse race. I decided this year would be the time to see the Preakness. As the day got closer, I got excited about participating in this event. What hat to wear? The drive there proved rather simple, it was what transpired upon my arrival that proved disheartening and disastrous. Handicapped parking is at a premium. The more you're willing to pay, the closer you get to the race track entrance.

I was born in Pimlico 75 years ago, when the neighborhood was a beautiful, friendly, caring place to live. But as I look at it now I want to cry. Money will help Pimlico, but it needs a lot more than $2 million from slots proceeds. It needs people who care about their community. Mayor after mayor has done nothing there. I hope the money will help to turn Pimlico around, but somehow I doubt that it will. A long-time Pimlico lover

Pimlico Race Course has a new logo. The second-oldest racetrack in the United States unveiled its logo Tuesday. The design features a cupola weather vane -- an iconic track feature -- and a 'Pimlico' script with 'Home of the Preakness' written below. "We wanted a fresh look before returning next month for the spring meet," Maryland Jockey Club president Tom Chuckas said in a news release. "The great Alfred Vanderbilt once said Pimlico 'is an accepted American institution, devoted to the best interests of a great sport, graced by time, respected for its honorable past.' Pimlico is steeped in tradition and we feel the new logo properly celebrates one of the most historic racetracks in the world.

Et cetera Pretension takes Canonero II at Pimlico Pretension won Saturday's feature at Pimlico Race Course , the $75,000 Canonero II Stakes for 3-year-olds, by a neck over Brimstone Island. The winner, ridden by Javier Santiago for trainer Chris Grove , completed the 1 1/16-mile distance in 1 minute, 45.70 seconds and paid $18. My Adonis, the 1-5 favorite who shipped in from Louisville after failing to draw into the Kentucky Derby, led for much of the race but faded to third place.

For some, the best views of the horse racing action at the Preakness today can’t be bought with expensive tickets. In fact, they can be had for free — you just have to know where to look.  Ricardo Dorsey, 55, is something of an amateur horse expert. He can hold forth for minutes on horse breeding, historic race times, and the dynamics of a single race. A Park Heights resident, he knows the clearest view of the Pimlico Race Course is outside the northwestern tip of the track on Northern Parkway, near the intersection with West Rogers Avenue.

Pimlico Race Course was given a stamp of approval Monday by an industry group after taking steps to conform with the group's standards related to drug testing and other procedures. The National Thoroughbred Racing Association said Pimlico has been fully accredited by its Safety and Integrity Alliance. NTRA — which promotes safety at tracks around the nation — said Pimlico, the site of Saturday's Preakness, is the 17th course to be accredited. Others include Churchill Downs and Belmont Park, home of the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, respectively.

Pimlico Race Course Russell takes jockey title; Vazquez wins trainer crown The Pimlico Race Course spring meeting ended Saturday with jockey Sheldon Russell and trainer Juan Vazquez winning individual titles. The 36-day stand began April 4. Russell topped the jockey standings for the second time in three years with 28 first-place finishes, two more than Xavier Perez and apprentice Victor Carrasco . The 25-year-old had six multiple-win days during the meet, including three wins May 4. "I am very fortunate to have the opportunity to ride for who I ride for," Russell said.

The leading rider at the Pimlico Race Course spring meeting will not be decided until the last day, and Sheldon Russell, who sits atop the standings, will not even be at the track at the end of today's card to see whether he keeps the top spot. After 35 live racing days, Russell has 28 victories, three more than Xavier Perez. Apprentice Victor Carrasco rode three winners Friday to move into third place with 24 victories. "I have ridden some good horses this meet and am fortunate to be in the position to be ahead with one day to go," said Russell, who was limited to four mounts Friday because rain forced four races off the turf.

What could have been a chance at the first Triple Crown in 35 years will instead come down to this for Baltimore County resident Stuart Janney III: a shot at redemption. Always measured, Janney avoids soaring rhetoric when discussing racing. He's been around too long to get caught up in that. Publicly, he will say that having Orb - named today a 3-1 favorite for Saturday's Belmont Stakes - run again against Preakness winner Oxbow is "gratifying because it should help spruce up the Belmont and bring some excitement.

Ever since I saw Eliza Doolittle at the horse race in "My Fair Lady," I dreamed of experiencing a horse race. I decided this year would be the time to see the Preakness. As the day got closer, I got excited about participating in this event. What hat to wear? The drive there proved rather simple, it was what transpired upon my arrival that proved disheartening and disastrous. Handicapped parking is at a premium. The more you're willing to pay, the closer you get to the race track entrance.

Pimlico Race Course Team Valor's Cerro favored in final stakes Cerro, owned by Team Valor International, a partnership that includes Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps and his longtime coach, Bob Bowman , is the overwhelming favorite to win Pimlico Race Course 's final stakes race of the spring meeting, the $100,000 Canonero II for 3-year-olds, on Saturday. After racing at Gulfstream Park and Keeneland earlier this year under the tutelage of Fair Hill-based Graham Motion , Cerro (6-5)

Tear it down. Fix it up. Keep it here. Move it there. Many at Pimlico Race Course Saturday, from celebrated trainers to $2 bettors, offered thoughts of what to do with Old Hilltop, the methuselan home of the 138 t h Preakness Stakes. The Maryland Jockey Club, which owns the track, has agreed to renovate both Pimlico and Laurel Park with a share of the state's slots revenue - an estimated $112 million in matching funds, if the organization ponies up the equivalent.

Frank Stronach's MI Developments, which bought Pimlico Race Course out of the bankruptcy proceeding of another Stronach company, Magna Entertainment, formally agreed not to move the Preakness Stakes out of Maryland, state and Baltimore officials said. The future of the Preakness, second gem in horse racing's triple crown, was thrown in doubt by Magna's bankruptcy and the prospect of an out-of-state company buying the assets. Ultimately, however, Pimlico stayed in the control of Canadian businessman Stronach, who has owned it for years.

The Pimlico Special is returning to Preakness weekend. The Maryland Racing Commission approved the 2012 Pimlico Race Course racing days and spring stakes schedule at its regular meeting Tuesday at Laurel Park, including the return of the long-respected but recently missing Special. Previously a Grade I, $500,000 race - first won by War Admiral in 1937 and more recently by 2006 horse of the year Invasor - the Pimlico Special was cut from the Preakness weekend all but once since 2007 due to a lack of purse money.

D. Wayne Lukas may seem to the public an unlikely candidate to be one of the most hands-on trainers working in horse racing today. He shows up on television - like Saturday, when his horse Oxbow cruised to a win in the 138th Preakness - looking more like a grandfather enjoying an unbothered retirement in a place where the sun is barely hidden. But the opposite is true. Sunday morning he appeared at his barn a bit later than planned but still less than 12 hours after his horse fended off a listless field in an unexpectedly languorous middle leg of the Triple Crown.

Rain sprinkling the infield at Pimlico mid-afternoon Saturday didn't stop the revelry . But some jockeys are hopeful the rain won't make the track too sloppy for the Preakness Stakes, which are set to begin around 6:18 p.m. The National Weather Service predicts that scattered showers could continue into the evening. The chance of precipitation is 30 percent. If the rain continues, the total amount isn't expected to be significant. The Weather Service is predicting new rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch are possible.