As city officials have "pledged a fight to keep" the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore, others pointed out yesterday that state law "prohibits the horse race from being moved to another track in Maryland," according to a front-page piece by Pamela Wood of the Baltimore SUN. Maryland Jockey Club VP & GM Sal Sinatra over the weekend "floated the idea of moving the Preakness from Baltimore's Pimlico Race Course to Laurel Park in Anne Arundel County." Sinatra yesterday said that he is "'fairly confident' he can make enough of a profit at Laurel to keep Pimlico open for at least a spring racing season that would continue to include the Preakness." He said that he had "no timetable for making a decision," and added that he "was not aware of a state law restricting a move." However, under a Maryland law passed in '87, the Preakness "can be moved to another track in the state 'only as a result of a disaster or emergency.'" The state attorney general's office said that the law would "need to be changed by the Maryland General Assembly to move the high-profile race." The Maryland Racing Commission meets today at Pimlico, and "one of the agenda items is an update" from the MJC. Sinatra said that keeping the Preakness at Pimlico "depends on turning around the finances" of the MJC, which is owned by parent company the Stronach Group. Sinatra: "In recent times, at least the last half-dozen years, we've been losing $3 million, $5 million, $6 million per year. I came on board to make it solvent again." He said, "We're open with the politicians. This isn't something we're doing in the middle of the night. … This will be discussed by all parties -- the city, the state, everyone. We're here in Maryland to stay. We're not here to burn any bridges" (Baltimore SUN, 5/19).
WATER HOARDING: Track and city officials said that the bathroom closures at Pimlico during Saturday's Preakness were a "result of low water pressure caused by increased water use." In Baltimore, Anderson & Wood note track officials "initially blamed a water main break elsewhere in the city." But a spokesperson for the city's Department of Public Works said that workers at the track "left a valve open, further reducing water pressure." Sinatra said that water was "used in the barn area to hose off horses in Saturday's heat and humidity, which caused the system to lose pressure" (Baltimore SUN, 5/19).
