If you rebuild it, they will continue to come.

135,256 people came to Pimlico two rainy days ago.

Now it’s our job to get the seating facility rebuilt so that the Preakness can be run there in the decades ahead.

A public-private partnership is necessary for that to happen, and there were positive developments this weekend

Governor Hogan said, “It’s got a great tradition, great history here, and hopefully we’re going to continue for many more years here. We’ve been here for 141, maybe we’ll be here for another 141.”

             Pimlico’s General Manager Sal Sinatra stated, “Once you come here and look through one Preakness, you feel the history, you feel the energy and you see what the kids are doing out there and you’re going to try every which way to keep it here.”

The next step in this process is a study evaluating Pimlico Race Course’s ability to serve as the permanent home of the Preakness.  That review will include an estimate of the economic and fiscal benefits associated with running the Preakness at Pimlico, as well as facility needs that would make the track more marketable.

This study is being conducted by the Maryland Stadium Authority.  It is funded by the Authority; the owners of Pimlico, the Maryland Jockey Club; the Maryland Racing Commission; and the City of Baltimore.

I was instrumental in convening this group for the first meeting of the Third Saturday in May Committee.  (That’s when the Preakness is run.)

I expect there will be other meetings in the months ahead.

The race and the track are too important for the economy of the neighborhood, the City, and the region for it to be run elsewhere.