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Events and Attractions

Preakness Stakes Sets Another Attendance Record; Overall Handle Also Hits New Mark

A crowd of 140,327 came to Pimlico Race Course on Saturday to see Cloud Computing win the Preakness Stakes, the "fourth straight Preakness Day to attract a record crowd," according to Shaffer & Markus of the Baltimore SUN. The mark "bested last year's announced 135,256, who braved inclement weather." Saturday's total handle was $97.186M, "also topping last year's mark" of $94.127M. Attendance at the track has "rebounded strongly" since '09, when the Maryland Jockey Club "instituted a bring-your-own-beer ban in the Pimlico infield." Only two Preakness Days in the past four decades "have had worse attendance" than '09 (Baltimore SUN, 5/21). DAILY RACING FORM's Matt Hegarty noted the "overall handle on the 14-race card set a record for the second straight year." Betting on the Preakness was $60.2M, down 1.7% from the record of $61.3M "set last year." This year's Preakness "had 10 horses," while last year's had 11. The records were set "two weeks after the Kentucky Derby produced record-setting handle figures at Churchill Downs" (DRF.com, 5/20).

ONE LAST RIDE? In Baltimore, Jeff Barker wrote the Preakness returned Saturday "even as wistful fans" wondered whether they were "witnessing one of the last editions of the marquee event" at 147-year-old Pimlico. Maryland Jockey Club GM Sal Sinatra and fans said that they "couldn't shake the sense they were nearing the end of an era." The age of the track makes it "difficult to maintain -- it's been patched together with mismatched materials and colors" -- and the Stronach Group, which owns the track, has "increasingly shifted its resources to Laurel Park, 28 miles away." The Stronach Group said Pimlico needs a "complete rebuild" at a cost of $300-500M. Stronach Group said that it "isn't ruling out any options for Pimlico, but it can't afford to invest heavily in Pimlico and Laurel." Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who attended the race, and city officials said that they "want to see the Preakness remain in Baltimore," but it is "uncertain whether enough public money will be available to make that happen." Sinatra: "I'm just happy that everybody is finally talking about it. It's going to come to a head at some point later this year" (Baltimore SUN, 5/21).

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