Nearly 7,000 seats at Pimlico were off limits after being deemed unsafe by the Maryland Jockey ClubGetty Images
Total betting on yesterday's Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course and the entire-14-race card on Saturday "set records." Preakness betting, "including all multi-leg wagers ending in the race," was $62.84M, a 1.4% gain on the record set last year. Total betting on the card was $99.85M. Pimlico said that attendance on Saturday was 131,256, a slight decline from last year's figure of 134,487 (DRF.com, 5/18). War of Will won by 1 1/4 lengths, the first Triple Crown victory for Owner Gary Barber, as the middle leg of the Triple Crown "managed to deliver a satisfying, even redemptive story" (NYTIMES.com, 5/18).
The race began in "bizarre" fashion, "unsettled by the trip of a riderless horse, Bodexpress" (BALTIMORESUN.com, 5/18). For a "few scary minutes, it looked like this star-crossed Preakness might end up the way the Triple Crown series began two weeks ago -- bathed in controversy and concern for the future of the sport." Bodexpress galloped "riderless around the track like some ominous symbol of what might lie ahead for the Pimlico Race Course and Baltimore’s signature sporting event" (BALTIMORESUN.com, 5/18).
Meanwhile, the "dire need of repair and renovation" at 149-year-old Pimlico was "clear as Preakness Day got underway." On Thursday, a water main "broke in front of the complex." Water pressure was so "negligible on the fourth floor of the grandstand that those restrooms were closed" in the hours leading up to the Preakness. Consequently, lines for restrooms on lower floors were "unusually long" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 5/18).
