Preakness Day

Preakness G-I UAE Cup race to feature Arabian horses Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, will join with Pimlico Race Course to host the $75,000-added The President of the United Arab Emirates Cup, a Grade I race for purebred Arabian horses, on Preakness Day, May 19. The race is limited to 14 horses and will be run on the main track at 1 1/16 miles. The Maryland House Ways and Means Committee passed an emergency bill, signed into law by Gov. Martin O'Malley on Tuesday, authorizing Pimlico to conduct live racing of Arabian horses under certain circumstances.

Et cetera Pimlico wagering up 9 percent from 2011 The Maryland Jockey Club concluded its spring meeting at Pimlico Race Course last weekend, posting average wagering figures that were 9 percent higher than those at the 2011 spring meet. The average daily handle went from $4.72 million to $5.17 million. The stand featured 29 live racing dates and 21 simulcast days. "We finished strong as betting was up in May on nine of 11 days of live racing," Maryland Jockey Club president Tom Chuckas said.

The Preakness it's not. No mobs of young people in the infield or fancily dressed women in colorful hats in the grandstand or even live horses running around Pimlico's dirt track. Still, hundreds of dedicated race fans showed up at the Northwest Baltimore track Saturday to watch and bet on simulcast broadcasts of horses running in Delaware, New Jersey and New York, as they waited for a horse with the unlikely name of Drosselmeyer to win the 142nd running of the Belmont Stakes, racing's third leg of the Triple Crown.

Baltimore Baby! I was so proud how the Maryland Jockey Club had fixed up Pimlico for the Preakness. Every building, every railing and sign - all were freshly painted with magnificent yellow flowers everywhere! Baltimore is first class! Jim Holechek, Baltimore

For $3 a person, you can use the bathroom of Carol Hines' home on Winner St, across from Pimlico race course.  Hines decided to give entrepreneurship a try for the first time this year, one of many enterprises that pop up on Preakness day in the Park Heights and Pimlico neighborhoods.  Besides offering her restroom for Preakness attendees, Hines cooked up some of her best dishes, including jerk chicken, curry chicken and barbecue ribs. ...

Baltimore Baby! I was so proud how the Maryland Jockey Club had fixed up Pimlico for the Preakness. Every building, every railing and sign - all were freshly painted with magnificent yellow flowers everywhere! Baltimore is first class! Jim Holechek, Baltimore

Let's start with the good news: Even the guy in the cheesy horse costume couldn't spoil things Saturday at Pimlico Race Course . Oh, did Baltimore need a day like this. Look at all we'd been through lately. The weather was straight from the Scottish moors: dreary and rainy day after day. The Orioles were doing another horrible cliff-dive onto the rocks, losing by football scores to the struggling Yankees and the lowly Nationals. There was even some crazy California preacher predicting the end of the world.

Javier Castellano, the jockey who won the 2006 Preakness aboard Bernardini, and Ramon Dominguez, who rode in eight Preaknesses but has never won, each captured three races on Preakness Day. Castellano won the James W. Murphy Stakes, the seventh race of the Preakness card, aboard Beau Choix. He finished 13/4 lengths ahead of Garret Gomez, aboard Manhattan Fox. Aboard Northpoint Costas, a 4-year-old chestnut gelding who was foaled in Maryland, Castellano finished two lengths ahead of Midnite Communion in the fourth race of the day. Castellano and his mount took the lead early and never relinquished it. In his first race, aboard Primary Witness, a 4-year-old bay colt, Castellano dueled with Julien Leparoux, aboard Kurbat, down the stretch and won by half a length in a seven-horse field.

Hold the obituaries, and please omit flowers. The state of horse racing in Maryland, thought to be troubled and traumatized, is making a comeback. There's no need to resuscitate the victim or stand in line to offer condolences.Preakness Day 1994 set records for the sport that have taken it to a new level of achievement and acceptability. The entire industry has gathered impetus and optimism from an outpouring of fan-presence and re-generated betting support."It's what I've been trying to say for a long time," said Joe De Francis, president of Pimlico and Laurel.

Despite rain and cold winds in the morning, Preakness day exceeded the wildest expectations of Maryland Jockey Club officials. Betting records were set, and attendance was the second highest in Preakness history. "It was a great day, no matter what variable you want to use to measure it," said Joe De Francis, MJC president and CEO. "We had what amounts to the biggest Preakness ever." The following betting totals set records: Betting on Preakness day's races at Pimlico, Laurel Park, Rosecroft Raceway and three off-track betting facilities totaled $10,403,781, a 1 percent increase over last year's $10,308,817.

For $3 a person, you can use the bathroom of Carol Hines' home on Winner St, across from Pimlico race course.  Hines decided to give entrepreneurship a try for the first time this year, one of many enterprises that pop up on Preakness day in the Park Heights and Pimlico neighborhoods.  Besides offering her restroom for Preakness attendees, Hines cooked up some of her best dishes, including jerk chicken, curry chicken and barbecue ribs. ...

Wiz Khalifa, one of the headline acts for this year's Preakness Infield party, was busted for pot in North Carolina Tuesday -- the second time in a week, just days before his Baltimore appearance. According to the Winston-Salem Journal, the rapper was arrested for marijuana possession after officers smelled the smoke pouring from his tour bus. On April 21, police in Nashville found pot in the hotel room of the rapper, whose real name is Cameron Jibril Thomaz. In Winston-Salem, police arrested nearly 20 people, including fans and members of Khalifa's entourage, the Journal reported.

Loyola men's basketball Jones, Laster, Tuohy join 2012-13 class Loyola coach Jimmy Patsos announced the addition of three players to the Greyhounds' 2012-13 freshman class: Jarred Jones (John Carroll), Eric Laster and Sean Tuohy Jr. , whose adoptive older brother is Ravens offensive tackle Michael Oher . "We're excited to have Jarred, Eric and S.J. join our program," Patsos said. "With Jarred, we are bringing in another player who knows what it takes to be successful in the Baltimore Catholic League, one of the top high school conferences around, and Eric certainly had a terrific senior year in Delaware.

Alas, Kegasus will not be the most athletic, um, sentient being in the infield at Preakness. Olympic Gold medalists Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers will compete in a National Volleyball League (yes, that's a thing) event on May 18-19. The pair will be making their domestic debut in advance of the London Games. Dalhausser, who's nickname "The Thin Beast" must be among the best in sports, will be recognizable to many sports fans. One, he's a thin beast. Two, he's got a bald dome that really sticks with you. Summer Olympic contenders Jen Kessy and April Ross will also compete on Preakness weekend, in what might be, according to a release, the only domestic appearance by American teams prior to the competition in London.  America's best known beach duo -- Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh -- has reunited but is not scheduled to appear in Baltimore.

Preakness G-I UAE Cup race to feature Arabian horses Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, will join with Pimlico Race Course to host the $75,000-added The President of the United Arab Emirates Cup, a Grade I race for purebred Arabian horses, on Preakness Day, May 19. The race is limited to 14 horses and will be run on the main track at 1 1/16 miles. The Maryland House Ways and Means Committee passed an emergency bill, signed into law by Gov. Martin O'Malley on Tuesday, authorizing Pimlico to conduct live racing of Arabian horses under certain circumstances.

Each morning, Monday through Friday, I'll hook you up with reading material to skim through as you slug down coffee and slack off at the start of your workday -- that way I'll have an excuse to do the same at the start of mine. Running it back: Vladimir Guerrero's two-run homer on Sunday powered the Orioles to a 2-1 win and a series victory over the Nationals. ... Brian Roberts will go to Pittsburgh on Tuesday to have a consultation with a renowned expert in sports-related concussions . ... Kevin Gregg said Matt Wieters is "probably the best" in baseball at throwing out would-be base stealers . ... There is a better than a "50-50 chance" that Preakness winner Shackleford will run in the Belmont Stakes . ... Ray Lewis believes crime would increase if there is no NFL season . ... Grant Catalino's overtime goal pushed Maryland past Syracuse and into the NCAA men's lacrosse semifinals . Hitting the links: 1. Peter Schmuck: Animal Kingdom put on another great show at the Preakness [ Baltimore Sun ]

IT'S QUIET AT Pimlico Race Course this morning. If you listen carefully, you can hear the sound of cleanup crews sweeping losing parimutuel tickets from the ground. Sweep, sweep, sweep. Or you can wonder whatever happened to Parris Glendening. Wonder, wonder, wonder. Or you might recall the sound of Jim McKay, trying to laugh around the rough spots. Yuk, yuk, yuk.McKay, the old ABC-TV sportscaster and Maryland horseman, hosted last week's Alibi Breakfast at Pimlico, where racing types and various hangers-on gathered to drum up interest in yesterday's 124th running of the Preakness Stakes.

Is it me, or do the Preakness infield rules seem to get more and more picky each year? No bottles. No ropes. No grills. No kegs. No sofas. No scaffolds. No scaffolds?!Tell me, what kind of a country do we live in where you can't even bring a few dozen lengths of hollow pipe and board to a horse race to construct a flimsy, 30-foot viewing platform for you and your beer-drinking buddies? What is this, Cuba? But rules are rules, I guess. So no scaffolds.Of course, if you wheel in one of those big John Deere bulldozers and crank the bucket as high as she goes and climb inside with a cooler, why, I don't see how that would hurt any . . . no. On second thought, better check with the Pimlico security people to see where they stand on heavy-duty earth-moving equipment.

Spotted outside the gates was a man carrying a cross and professing that the rapture is near. Actually, the beginning of the end is supposed to be close to post time. No word on whether this believer plans to place a bet.

Let's start with the good news: Even the guy in the cheesy horse costume couldn't spoil things Saturday at Pimlico Race Course . Oh, did Baltimore need a day like this. Look at all we'd been through lately. The weather was straight from the Scottish moors: dreary and rainy day after day. The Orioles were doing another horrible cliff-dive onto the rocks, losing by football scores to the struggling Yankees and the lowly Nationals. There was even some crazy California preacher predicting the end of the world.