Pimlico Race

Stephanie Beattie called her upset win in the $100,000 William Donald Schaefer Stakes the highlight of her career, and it was the first of back-to-back victories for female trainers Saturday during Preakness Day at Pimlico Race Course. Beattie's No Advantage, at 12-1 odds, charged past two horses down the stretch to win the Grade III race by 2 3/4 lengths. No Advantage pressed pacesetters Real Merchant and Crimson Comic to the far turn before charging past them on the outside to gain control.

Imagine if they tore down the venerable Pimlico Race Course, home of the Preakness Stakes and 139 years of horse racing tradition in Northwest Baltimore. Park Heights shopkeeper Marcus Melvin has pondered the possibility. He'd support a shopping complex as a way to bring needed jobs to the "devastated" neighborhood near the track. No thanks, say Larry and Vicki Kloze, who live a block north of Pimlico. A shopping mall would probably fail, they argue. Far better would be a sedate office park with lots of green space.

Mama Nikki was hollering from somewhere back in the kitchen, her kitchen, at Pimlico Race Course. "I don't have a lot of food out yet!" she barked, less as an apology than an explanation. The smell of fried goodness said otherwise. So did the row of metal pans glistening with golden-brown salmon cakes, fried chicken, liver and onions, collards and corn. Her name is Goldie Morris, but for decades she's been known around Pimlico simply as Mama Nikki. Since 1969, she's been whipping up filling meals for trainers, track employees, media types and jockeys.

Despite the building anticipation of a classic horse race with a compelling story line, this year's Preakness comes with a triple whammy of potential party poopers. If the economy were not enough to dampen the festivities - and it is - there's also the bankruptcy of Pimlico Race Course's owner and the resulting questions over the race's future. Then there's that beer thing - a newly adopted ban on bringing your own brew to the infield that many former Preakness fans find as palatable as a warm Natty Boh. Maryland Jockey Club president Tom Chuckas said ticket sales are picking up after a slow start, particularly since star filly Rachel Alexandra entered the field of challengers to Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird.

Hold your horses. While Saturday is all about that big race at Old Hilltop, there are several other Preakness-related events around the area. So if you're looking for a few fun, festive and far-out things to do before and on the big day, here are some suggestions: Sunrise at Old Hilltop Witness the calm before the crowds descend upon Pimlico Race Course. From 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. Thursday and Friday, visitors can enjoy an escorted tour of the Preakness Stakes Barn, a chat with a trainer and a view of the horses going through their morning workouts.

Rachel Alexandra changed stalls at Churchill Downs in Louisville early Thursday morning, and the reverberations blew through the Preakness Stakes posthaste. No sooner had Stonestreet Stables purchased the precocious 3-year-old filly than new owner Jess Jackson was fielding questions about a possible run at the $1 million Preakness on May 16. Jackson was noncommittal after moving Rachel Alexandra into trainer Steve Asmussen's barn. The ambiguity left Chip Woolley, trainer for the Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, wondering whether he needed a jockey for the second leg of the Triple Crown.

After winning a conference championship, does an NFL owner spend a lot of time pondering whether to go to the Super Bowl? Does the manager of a pennant winning baseball team say, "I'll think about the World Series thing and get back to you in a few days?" Alas, when it rains it pours on Maryland horse racing. An industry that has endured ruinous competition from other forms of legalized gambling over the past two decades, declining attendance, a gradual loss of racing dates, the slots brouhaha, and most recently, bankruptcy and the possibility of state takeover through eminent domain, found itself all wet again over the weekend.

A little country music, a big helping of sunshine and a couple of hard-charging fillies ushered in the Pimlico Race Course season Saturday. Blind Date, a 3-year-old filly who was in eighth place at one point in the $50,000 Hookedonthefeelin Stakes, came flying from the outside in the stretch to dash to a 1 3/4 -length victory for her third win in four outings. And after a "halftime" concert by country singer Darryl Worley, Princess Nyla, a 4-year-old filly, bolted in front at the top of the stretch to post a 4 3/4 -length win for local trainer Chris Grove in the 1 1/6 -mile, $50,000 Geisha Stakes.

State officials and their attorneys have revealed more of their strategy to retain the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore, saying Thursday that the state would "likely" try to purchase the historic race either through eminent domain or a court-supervised auction now that it is up for sale in federal bankruptcy proceedings. Funding for those options would be authorized by emergency legislation now speeding through the General Assembly. Introduced this week by Gov. Martin O'Malley, the bill also would authorize the state to seize other Maryland assets owned by financially distressed Magna Entertainment Corp.

It should be quite a day at the races. "Let the best man win," Carl Verstandig says cheerily. That's "man" rather than "horse" because this year, what happens to Pimlico Race Course is going to be more important in the long run than at Pimlico Race Course. Verstandig is the latest, and most surprising, entrant in the stakes to buy the track, home to the legendary Preakness race, from the current owner, Magna Entertainment Corp. Magna filed for bankruptcy last month and announced its plans to auction its horse racing interests in the state, throwing much of Maryland - or at least its political leadership and its thoroughbred fans - into a state of high anxiety over what would happen to our own jewel in the Triple Crown.