Pimlico Race

Along with the thrill of thundering hooves returning to Pimlico Race Course today, the return of the Grade I Pimlico Special during Preakness week and a stakes schedule that the Maryland Jockey Club's new president, Chris Dragone, calls "very good," comes a sign of the ongoing struggle the sport faces to keep the best talent in the state. Ryan Fogelsonger, 26 and the winner of more races at Pimlico and Laurel Park than any other rider since 2002, said yesterday that he has decided to move his tack to Presque Isle Downs in Erie, Pa. He will ride Malibu Kid, the favorite in today's $50,000 Star de Naskra Stakes for Maryland-breds, but will say goodbye to the track Sunday to be on hand for opening day at Presque Isle on May 9. "For the most part, as you can see, there isn't a lot of money in Maryland racing right now," Fogelsonger said.

After nearly 20 years in the horse training business, Mike Trombetta is one of those overnight successes people hear about when they finally hit the big time. For Trombetta, the big time came in 2006 when he trained Sweetnorthernsaint, the Kentucky Derby betting favorite and second-place finisher in the Preakness. Now, Trombetta is about to start on a road that could lead to a second trip to the Derby with Cave's Valley. The 3-year-old is owned by Harry and Tom Meyerhoff, who with trainer Bud Delp campaigned the great Spectacular Bid. For those who keep a close eye on Maryland racing, Trombetta having a second shot at the sport's brass ring is not a surprise.

Many people know a workaholic, but today at Laurel Park there will be at least one overzealous worker who is a horse. Silmaril, the 2-1 favorite in the $80,000 What A Summer Stakes, is that horse. She is the star of trainer Chris Grove's stable at the Bowie Training Center and will be running with a chance to become only the fifth female Maryland-bred to win $1 million in purses. She would also be 17th among all Maryland-breds to reach the $1 million plateau. Cigar tops all Maryland-breds with $9,999,815 in winnings.

Learning to handle crises of mentally ill The fatal shooting of a suicidal young man suffering from a bipolar disorder is one example of the kind of tragedies that occur throughout the country when police officers are not given the tools to prepare them to deal with persons with serious mental illness who are in crisis ("Suicidal man fatally shot by police," Aug. 20). The National Alliance on Mental Illness has long advocated that more police officers be trained to be members of Crisis Intervention Teams who know how to respond properly to the mentally ill. CIT training gives police officers 40 hours of specialized instruction, including lessons about mental illnesses that teach officers to understand that mental illness is not a crime but a disease.

With revenues plummeting, the Maryland Jockey Club will cut $3 million from its budget this fall, reducing the purse $2,000 in every race for the rest of the year and trimming the number of races at Laurel Park through Dec. 31. The Jockey Club and the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association said they had no choice. "It's another nail in the coffin for Maryland racing," Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller said. Miller, a Prince George's County Democrat, said Maryland has its "head in the sand" by not helping the racing industry while Delaware, Pennsylvania and West Virginia have enabled racetracks to supplement their revenue with slot machines.

It's quirky and gritty. Its history is complex. Its patrons are blue-collar. It has been the backdrop for glory and for disaster, on and off the track. Tradition calls for it to be held on the third Saturday in May, and when it comes to the Preakness, which will be run tomorrow for the 132nd time, we know this: More so than the other legs of horse racing's Triple Crown, inside the gates of Pimlico Race Course, anything, truly anything, is liable to happen. The Kentucky Derby has its stuffy but classical traditions: fancy clothes, mint juleps and the singing of "My Old Kentucky Home" before the race.

Horses? What horses? From the infield, the running of the Preakness Stakes is merely a side note - an excuse for tens of thousands to flood Pimlico and throw down all day. "I could probably name two horses a year, probably just the favorites," said Paul Sylvester, a 24-year-old engineer who went the past three years. "Most of the time you go, you're not really sure the race is on." More than 115,000 people came to last year's race, which made it the highest-attended sporting event in the state, officials said.

Most of the time, the small staff of Deerfield Designs in Ellicott City provides custom murals, hand-painted tiles, faux finishes and other one-of-a-kind touches for homes in the Baltimore region. But every year in early May, the shop, housed in a barn-like building on a leafy cul-de-sac, shifts gears and churns out statues of jockeys. The 9-inch-high statues will be distributed to horse owners at the Alibi Breakfast, a meet-the-press event that takes place tomorrow at the Pimlico Race Course, two days before the Preakness Stakes.

It is indisputable that money dictates much of what happens in sports, and that is especially true in horse racing. The high cost of feeding, training and caring for a horse forces owners to run for as much money as possible whenever they send their animals to the starting gate. Owners follow money like the sun rises - without fail. That's why Maryland racing is slumping as neighboring states offer purses jacked up on proceeds from slots, and that's also why the Preakness finds itself playing an increasingly dangerous game of chance.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Street Sense, the Breeders' Cup Juvenile champion who most horse racing experts said couldn't win the Kentucky Derby, won yesterday. But as the field of 20 horses rounded the final turn for the long drive down the Churchill Downs frontstretch, it certainly didn't look like that would happen. Sitting in the lead on Hard Spun at the top the stretch, Mario Pino wouldn't have believed it if you had told him. The Preakness Second leg of Triple Crown, May 19, Pimlico Race Course The Preakness What -- Second leg of thoroughbred horse racing's Triple Crown When -- May 19 Where -- Pimlico Race Course Distance -- 1 3/16 miles TV -- Chs. 11, 4 2006 winner -- Bernardini (1:54.