UPDATED: 1ST Racing: Pimlico’s the plan
The Biz- May 24, 2023
From The Baltimore Banner
The future of Maryland racing has been a subject of much angst in the state for quite some time. There are two tracks, both owned by the Stronach Group, neither in great shape. But nothing seems to get done.
Aidan Butler, chief executive of 1/ST, the racing arm of Stronach, put his cards on the table and declared who he thinks should be the winner.
Pimlico is the future and Laurel is the past.
“The opportunity, I believe, is to concentrate on Pimlico as the racetrack and maybe use Laurel for training or use another location for training,” Butler said in an exclusive interview with The Baltimore Banner. “But if the idea is to build two new racetracks, that doesn’t make a lot of logical sense. Personally, if I were to rebuild one, I’d rather rebuild Pimlico.”
This is a considerable swerve from a few years ago when Tim Ritvo, then the top racing executive at Stronach, declared that Laurel would supplant Pimlico as Maryland’s signature track. He even wanted to move the Preakness to Laurel and talked about hosting the Breeders’ Cup.
Ritvo left the company nearly a year after a huge spike in horse deaths at Santa Anita, which is also a Stronach property.
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“From my perspective, it probably never should have been looked at as a home for the Preakness,” Butler said. “And I don’t think it should ever be. Pimlico is Pimlico. The old gal has some troubles, but this is the thing we really need to concentrate on.”
The sad shape of the Pimlico facility has been well chronicled the past few years from things such as a condemned area of the grandstand to water issues at the facility.
Read more at The Baltimore Banner. The Baltimore Banner is an editorial partner with The Racing Biz. Subsequent to our initial publication of this excerpt, The Banner updated it; this version reflects the updated text.
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This is the stupidest idiotic idea I have ever heard, and only a moron would dream it up. Just how many people do you think are going to come to Pimlico from from Northern Virginia, PG County, Montgomery, Calvert and AA etc. counties? Laurel in the last 10 years has spent 15 million in remolding, it was just 4 or 5 years ago that they were trying real hard to get a Breeders Cup and they came close. . Laurel has more parking than they need, Laurel is 3 minutes from The B&W Parkway, 8 minutes from I-95. Laurel is not in a dangerous neighborhood, Pimlico is. Laurel has motels & restaurants. Laurel Park has rich history too. I can drive to Laurel in 33 minutes from Chesapeake Beach using routes 301 & 197. I have been there over 1000 times. I have only been to Pimlico 13 times in my life, the last time in 1985. In 1987, nine of us wanted to go and bet the Derby, we took a vote Pimlico or Delaware Park 40 minutes farther, Delaware won. I and everybody I know would rather drive to Charles Town than Pimlico, I know people who live in Laurel who feel the same way. You morons closed Bowie now if you go thru with this you will kill Maryland racing. Pimlico should have been closed in the 1950’s and almost was. I will open a TVG account. This decision will rival The Bud Lite fiasco. Only difference is that Budweiser will recover from theirs but Maryland racing will be doomed into the history books.
Dick Hering
This is the stupidest idiotic idea I have ever heard, and only a moron would dream it up. Just how many people do you think are going to come to Pimlico from from Northern Virginia, PG County, Montgomery, Calvert and AA etc. counties? Laurel in the last 10 years has spent 15 million in remolding, it was just 4 or 5 years ago that they were trying real hard to get a Breeders Cup and they came close. . Laurel has more parking than they need, Laurel is 3 minutes from The B&W Parkway, 8 minutes from I-95. Laurel is not in a dangerous neighborhood, Pimlico is. Laurel has motels & restaurants. Laurel Park has rich history too. I can drive to Laurel in 33 minutes from Chesapeake Beach using routes 301 & 197. I have been there over 1000 times. I have only been to Pimlico 13 times in my life, the last time in 1985. In 1987, nine of us wanted to go and bet the Derby, we took a vote Pimlico or Delaware Park 40 minutes farther, Delaware won. I and everybody I know would rather drive to Charles Town than Pimlico, I know people who live in Laurel who feel the same way. You morons closed Bowie now if you go thru with this you will kill Maryland racing. Pimlico should have been closed in the 1950’s and almost was. I will open a TVG account. This decision will rival The Bud Lite fiasco. Only difference is that Budweiser will recover from theirs but Maryland racing will be doomed into the history books.
Dick Hering
So angry you posted it twice. How many people do you think actually attend the races live? Other than owners like myself and other trainers, grooms etc. There are maximum 500 people there on any non=special day. Also, how would you compensate Stronach for the 40M tax bill they would be on the hook for if Laurel was renovated? Pimlico has the backing of the legislature and of the Stronach group, and the state and city essentially own Pimlico and the land so no tax bill for Stronach
Laurels newly found bad condition is make believe all to push this idea. Laurel draws more than 500. The best plan was the first one, that was to close Pimlico and move The Preakness to Laurel. Nobody who comes to town for the Preakness rents a motel room or eats in the city. They stay in Hunt Valley, Towson, Laurel around BWI etc. You obviously work for Stronach.
I actually stayed at the four seasons inner harbor for Preakness
The horsemen complained about the track not Stronach.
Track surface condition is not the issue here, plus it was recent and was short lived. Everybody knows what I meant by ” Laurels newly found bad condition is make believe “. That issue is, all of a sudden Laurel’s building structure is ready to fall down and is as bad as Pimlico’s. Problem with that is it is not true and nobody believes that. The property tax on Laurel is nowhere near 40 million even though it sits in 3 counties. Did you make up the fictional 40 mil or did you read it somewhere? You are saying the state and city essentially own Pimlico. Stronach gave away the hundreds of acres where the Bowie Track sat last month. He sure likes to give away stuff. No wonder when his tracks were traded publicly the stock value became Zero. You cited the inner harbor, it is the only place you can stay that is safe in the city. Maryland Racing needs to get out of Baltimore.
Maryland Matters 2/27/23 article mentions the tax bill near the end of the article 40M
For the record, they never came close to getting the breeders cup. It was a vanity play by Stronach from the get-go.