Owners of Pimlico Race Course on Thursday "offered no assurances" that the Preakness Stakes will remain there long term, but Stronach Group Chair & President Belinda Stronach did say that the company "will do everything it can to ensure the race remains a successful event in Maryland," according to Childs Walker of the Baltimore SUN. Stronach Group officials have "suggested the possibility of moving the state's largest sporting event to their refurbished track" at Laurel Park. But the issue is "in limbo as the Maryland Stadium Authority prepares to study the future of the race and of the outdated facilities at Pimlico." That process "is expected to last about a year." Meanwhile, Stronach Racing Division exec BOD member Tim Ritvo said that he is "planning a formal pitch to attract the Breeders' Cup" to Laurel Park as soon as '19. He said that Laurel "would likely expand its seating capacity to about 70,000 from the current 35,000-40,000 if the event comes to Maryland." He called it "another level" in the massive renovation ongoing there (Baltimore SUN, 5/20).
COMING DOWN THE STRETCH? In N.Y., Tom Pedulla notes Stronach Group Founder Frank Stronach "plans to invest as much as half a billion dollars to try to replicate what has become a bustling entertainment complex surrounding Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla." But that plan "contemplates moving the Preakness to Laurel Park." Maryland House of Delegates member Samuel Rosenberg said moving the Preakness “would be a major economic and development setback for the city and for the region.” Pedulla notes city officials and execs representing the Stronach Group "agree that Pimlico is at its end." Veteran racegoers "well remember an electrical fire that led to a blackout" there in '98. And last year, low water pressure "caused by increased water use rendered many toilets inoperable." Because business at Pimlico "is lacking, with the exception of the coming weekend, Ritvo questioned the extent to which rebuilding at that location would benefit the immediate area." Although Ritvo said that he "understood the feelings of traditionalists, he added that he believed the need for a dramatic change should override that" (N.Y. TIMES, 5/20).
