I approached my first Preakness with trepidation: I’m not a Big Event kind of person (with the exception of this kind of Big Event) and I hate crowds. But this year’s Preakness presented some opportunities too good to pass up, and so on, Friday afternoon, I set off down the Northeast corridor to Charm City, where I lived for five years.
And really—I couldn’t have passed a more pleasant day. Even a couple of forays to the infield weren’t quite as repellent as I’d expected, and to my astonishment (and sadness, perhaps?), at three minutes to the Preakness, I walked up to a window on the third floor and placed a bet: no waiting.
Thanks, Pimlico, for a terrific day. Hope to see you next year.
Every track should have one of these…
The games tent in the infield intrigued even me, and it was sort of hard to resist the air hockey tables. Easy to pass, however, on beer pong…
…and purchasing one of these:
Rachel Alexandra reigned for a little while longer…
They’re off in the Grade III William Donald Schaefer…
…and Blame cruised to victory.
Comedero dominated in the Chick Lang:
It’s show time, and this is where the action starts…
…before the Preakness horses go to the track to be saddled:
Caracortado
Jackson Bend
And Paddy O’Prado wins the most photogenic award:
And for another, these guys, the first and the most recent, along with the nine others memorialized by the stakes barn, will not be joined by a twelfth.
Two Brooklyn Backstretch contributions appeared last week at Hello Race Fans!, on the Alydar/Affirmed rivalry, and on the New York years of the Preakness. At BelmontStakes.com, I wrote about the horses who lost the Triple Crown by less than a length.
Brooklyn Backstretch 
Fast Money Center
What’s that all about?
You mean people down in Ball’more actually have the nerve
go up to human beings and confess that they’ve “tapped out” after the 4th race ? 😉
We should have called you. Kathy and I (me?) had a blast at the races on Saturday, and spent most of Sunday at the Cat’s Eye Pub and Shucker’s in Fells Point. Met a lot of nice people (as we always do). 14 straight Preakness weekends. I told anyone that would listen to bet Lucky over all the bombs. I hope they did; I didn’t. Oh well. Par for the course!
I spent a good many hours in the Cat’s Eye when I lived in Baltimore. No time on this trip, unfortunately, to make it to Fells Point.
I didn’t see anyone going to the Fast Money Center…but I might give it a shot next time!
Your fresh perspective is so welcome! I get tired of hearing the ol’ chant, “Pimlico’s a dump”, or “The Preakness Infield is rife with drunken buffoons, ” and so on. It appears so wholesome and wonderful [at least here, on your blog]!
BTW, here’s an interesting tidbit … when the NBC Talking Heads were on the TV, the set was decorated with bunches of sunflowers, not Black-eyed Susans! Admittedly, maybe it’s a little early for the the dainty yellow flower, but couldn’t they have at least done a better job faking it??
I love Baltimore, and I really like Pimlico. This was my second visit, and the other time, the place was deserted. But there’s an amazing little museum of the place in the clubhouse, it’s clean, with great places to watch races. I don’t get why people hate the place so much.