Pimlico Hosting New Preakness Party, But Bans Outside Alcohol
The Maryland Jockey Club (MJC) for Preakness Day on May 16 will host InfieldFEST, which will include performances by ZZ Top and Buckcherry and an interactive section prior to the running of the $1M Preakness Stakes. The event also includes the season debut of the Toyota Pro Beach East Volleyball Tour, which will host a one-day professional women's beach volleyball doubles tournament on the Pimlico Race Course Infield from 9:00am-5:00pm ET (MJC). The MJC Thursday also announced that fans will be prohibited from bringing any beverages, including alcohol, onto the Pimlico grounds for the Preakness, and the THOROUGHBRED TIMES' John Scheinman wrote the Preakness Day infield party, "long known as one of the wildest beer bashes on the East Coast, is expected to have a distinctively different atmosphere this year." While horse racing "takes center stage for those in the grandstand and clubhouse, partying is predominantly on the minds of those in their teens and 20s that pay to go into the infield each year." There were 126 fans ejected from the infield at last year's Preakness, while another six were arrested, and MJC President & COO Tom Chuckas said that "change was in order." A 16-ounce beer will cost $3.50 on the infield (THROUGHBREDTIMES.com, 2/5).
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MJC's Tom Chuckas Admits
Policy May Hurt Attendance |
PARTY'S OVER: Chuckas said, "Obviously, the policy excluding beer could have a negative impact on the attendance in the infield, but what we're trying to do here is enhance the infield experience for our fans." In Baltimore, Ordine & Sessa note the infield regularly has been the "scene of heavy drinking and hard partying, but wilder moments have drawn notoriety in recent years." The new Pimlico policy, which still permits fans to bring food into the infield in "coolers that do not exceed specific dimensions," follows "similar guidelines" at the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes, the other two legs of horse racing's Triple Crown (Baltimore SUN, 2/6). Washington Post reporter Dave Sheinin said the move "is going to hurt them in the long run because this was an event." Sheinin: "Young people in Baltimore look forward to this. It is on the calendar and they go there and they wheel in coolers, big huge coolers full of beer, and they sit there and drink all day long and it is a party. I don't know that they're going to get the same crowds anymore” ("Washington Post Live," Comcast SportsNet, 2/5).
CLOSING TIME? The BALTIMORE EXAMINER's Tony Wisniewski wrote the new policy could "mark the beginning of the end for the Preakness in Maryland." It is "no secret that Pimlico is far from ideal in terms of hosting a national sporting event," as "everything from the track to the surrounding community and the safety of attendees lags far behind" Churchill Downs and Belmont Park. With the new rules, "where's the motivation to go" to the Preakness? (EXAMINER.com, 2/5).
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