Pimlico Race

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller expressed willingness yesterday to holding a special session of the General Assembly if legislation is needed to ensure the Preakness Stakes stays in Maryland. Miller, a staunch supporter of horse racing, has been talking in recent days about the possibility of the state taking over the race in case owner Magna Entertainment Corp., which filed for bankruptcy protection this month, seeks to sell the rights to an out-of-state buyer. "It's not only a matter of pride, it's a matter of economic development," Miller said.

For starters, I want to go on record as having made a sports department pronouncement that the state should consider using the stadium authority to fix the problems in Maryland's rapidly deteriorating horse racing industry days before state Senate President Mike Miller publicly revived the "supertrack" concept. Unfortunately, throwing taxpayer money at something seemingly as frivolous as horse racing is a tough sell these days, considering the broad sentiment against public bailouts. But the idea of the state acquiring Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course along with the Preakness Stakes and embarking on a supertrack project in the longer term would be a prudent and far-sighted use of public dollars.

Maryland horse racing interests pondered an uncertain future yesterday as horsemen, breeders, regulators, employees and fans absorbed the news that the biggest player in the state's thoroughbred industry, Magna Entertainment, had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy-law protection. The owner of Laurel Park, Pimlico Race Course, the Bowie training facility and the Preakness Stakes, Magna has been struggling to repay debt as revenues sag, and though it will be business as usual for the time being at Laurel, which is running its winter meet, longer-term prospects for Maryland racing are murky.

Records, as we all know, are made to be broken. And Curlin, winner of the 2007 Preakness, is on the threshold of breaking one of horse racing's most impressive records - the most money ever won by a North American thoroughbred. The problem is the record is held by Cigar, a Maryland-bred who shares still another distinction - 16 straight victories, a mark reached by only one other horse, the great Citation. Cigar hit his peak as a 5- and 6-year-old, winning nearly $5 million each season (1995 and 1996)

It's good to have options. At this weekend's Virgin Mobile Festival, more than 40 performers will be vying for your attention on two main stages and in a dance tent. One of the biggest challenges is deciding whom to watch. Would you rather catch classic performers like Bob Dylan and Chuck Berry or hot hip-hop acts like Lil' Wayne? Before you pick and choose, it's good to know a little bit about each act. Here's the skinny on all the bands at this year's festival. The Black Keys Essentials: On its latest album, Attack & Release, the Keys went into the studio with producer Danger Mouse and came out with a new sound, complete with keyboards and high-end production.

To fully grasp what a big deal it would be for Big Brown to win the Triple Crown, you have to understand what horse racing was back when it last happened, what it is today and what has happened in between. What's going on now was on display all day Saturday all around Pimlico Race Course. Another impressive attendance figure, an announced 112,222 - eight straight years of 100,000-plus - but still the lowest in five years and the end of four straight years of increases. A noticeable decline in corporate tents, coupled with a noticeable rise in beer-fueled rambunctiousness (to put it politely)

No one had to give Ro Parra directions to Pimlico Race Course yesterday. The winning owner of Student Council in the Grade I, $250,000 Pimlico Special grew up in Maryland and has been to at least 15 previous Preakness weekends. "But always in the infield," said Parra, a native of Ecuador who grew up in Lexington Park and eventually met his wife here. "This is the first time I've been to Pimlico and watched a race in the grandstand." The view was superb for the Special, which returned to the Preakness weekend race card after a one-year absence.

There is no bigger day on Baltimore's calendar than tomorrow, when large crowds will descend upon Pimlico Race Course for the 133rd running of the Preakness Stakes. With a strong favorite, Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown, whose trainer is a Hagerstown native and whose jockey is a veteran of Maryland tracks, the excitement at Old Hilltop should be running high. These are difficult times for horse racing. Attendance at races, wagering, the number of racing days all have been in serious decline at tracks all over the country for years.

What: 133rd Preakness, second leg of thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown When: Saturday, 6:09 p.m. post time Where: Pimlico Race Course Distance: 1 3/16 miles TV: Chs. 11, 4 2007 winner: Curlin Purse: $1 million. First place: $650,000. Second place: $200,000. Third place: $100,000. Fourth place: $50,000. Pre-race events Today: Preakness Crab Derby, noon, Lexington Market; Preakness Balloon Festival, 3 p.m., Turf Valley Resort; Miller Lite Nites, 7:30 p.m., Power Plant. Tomorrow: Ryan Shaw concert, 6 p.m., Harbor East.

The annual running of the Preakness Stakes means many things to people. For horse-racing enthusiasts, it's the top 3- year-old thoroughbreds racing for $1 million in the middle jewel of the Triple Crown. For gamblers, it's a chance to cash in on a spur-of-the-moment bet. But for infielders at Pimlico Race Course, it's an exercise in debauchery, where tens of thousands of partygoers are poised for just about anything but a horserace. "People seem comfortable with the fact that they'll probably never see the races," says Mark Rosencrantz, 27, of Westminster, who has attended Preakness for the past three years.