A Preakness absence in Park Heights
“Just weird” to have no Preakness in Pimlico’s neighborhood
Nick Hahn
May 14, 2026
While watching the Preakness at Laurel may be bizarre enough, consider the folks in Park Heights, where the Pimlico grandstand has been demolished and there’s a hole in the ground.
“They’re working hard over there,” said resident Andrew Gould. “But it’s just weird.”
Even for nearby residents who haven’t been to Pimlico recently, the feeling around this year’s third Saturday in May is, if not empty, certainly hollow. What will they miss?
This article contains affiliate links. If you click and buy, we may earn a commission at no extra charge to you.
Pick up reliable and rewarding tickets for major events!
“All the action,” answered Gould. “I don’t go over to the Preakness. I don’t have to. I can just sit right here and listen. It’s all the vendors and people parking cars. That’s big money, too.”
“It brings money to the area,” agreed Keith Metcalf sitting next to Gould some two blocks from the current construction site. “The Preakness is going to surely be missed by business owners. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it, but I guess from their perspective, they needed it to be upgraded.”
While the race is at Laurel, not all related events are. The George “Spider” Anderson Festival is Saturday, May 16 in Park Heights, as it has been held for the last half decade. The community event celebrates culture, community and legacy, honoring George “Spider” Anderson. In 1889 Anderson became the first Black jockey to win the Preakness when he rode Buddhist to victory.
“It has grown over the years, said Tabitha Chambers, President of the Pimlico Good Neighbors Association, about the festival. “This will take place on Preakness Saturday even though the actual Preakness festivities will be at Laurel.”
Residents may actually enjoy a year off from the helicopters, congestion, parking passes and blocked-off streets. But they shouldn’t – and don’t want to – get used to it.
“When it comes back next year, it’s going to be big,” said Chambers. “The prospect of jobs coming to the community, we’re really looking forward to that. I think what’s most interesting to people is anticipating the ending of how everything is going to look once the development has come to an end and everything has been put in place.”
Chambers, who was born at the adjacent Mount Sinai hospital, has witnessed the ups and downs of the Preakness alongside many of her elder neighbors.
“They’ve seen the racetrack grow and more recently, decline,” related Chambers. “I think it’s bittersweet because the day of the Preakness and this week is where you have a lot of festivities taking place at Pimlico,” including, she said, Sunrise at Old Hilltop.
Chambers is no stranger to the Preakness or Pimlico. She said she recalls seeing MC Hammer at the Preakness, but usually she went to the track on Black-Eyed Susan day. Her organizations have held their meetings at Pimlico.
“I lived up and down Park Heights, the bad part, the good part, all my life and every year, the highlight of the year would be the Preakness” added Gould.
His attachment to Old Hilltop is something he comes by honestly. He was perhaps five when he first visited, inspiring him to learn to ride.
“My mother loved the horses and use to take me to the track,” he recalled, jokingly adding, “I’m a 55-year-old fat Black man that can ride a horse.”
Yet for some, the Preakness as they knew it, left some time ago. Terry Ross of United Crab and Seafood on Liberty Road, three miles from Pimlico, has been to an estimated 35 runnings of the Middle Jewel and still goes. A former standardbred horse owner who was part of Ross Stables alongside his father, David, he first went to the Preakness in 1984. With declining on-site crowds in recent years, Ross believes its significance has also dwindled.
“We would really know if the Preakness had a big impact on this community,” observed Ross. “We don’t have Preakness party bookings and haven’t for 10 years.”
Ross acknowledges that the impact of the event may be more keenly felt in the neighborhoods right around the track. Still, with crabcakes so closely associated with the Preakness, one might expect the race’s absence to impact his business. Yet Ross expects this Saturday to be a normal Saturday.
“In this area, not much of a reaction,” observed Ross about the Preakness absence this year. “It doesn’t seem like we get busier for Preakness Day. We are busy that day anyway. I haven’t heard anyone say I’m going to miss the Preakness this year. I believe everyone understands what’s happening.”
The current setting of the provisional Preakness at Laurel garnered interest to Ross, but the attendance limit poses a challenge.
“The venue isn’t putting on as many things and attractions, and that’s all part of the Preakness fun too,” Ross said.
Ross expects that in addition to event planning, the new facility could accentuate the upcoming new racing calendar that will have more racing days in a year than typical at Pimlico recently.
“Let’s hope it looks nice,” desired Ross. “Maybe that will bring people year-round. One day does not make a horse track.”
Like Chambers, Ross might see Black-Eyed Susan as a day for the locals. He’ll miss that more than the Preakness itself.
“Black-Eyed Susan day is my best day there,” said Ross. “I like going both days, but Black-Eyed Susan day is nice. It’s a little different crowd. They’ve changed it from what it used to be. It’s become a little more docile. I’m 62 years old, so I remember the heyday.”
Maryland racing (and the state itself) are banking that a new heyday is coming.
PIMLICO PHOTOS BY NICK HAHN
Pick up reliable and rewarding tickets for major events!
LATEST NEWS
