It was a cold and windy April day at Pimlico race course as workmen labored with a forklift to put beams in place for the infield tents that soon will protect thousands of Preakness guests next weekend from what will likely be heat and sun.
But these temporary alterations don’t tell the story of what’s really going on at Maryland’s historic but down-at-the-heel horseracing facilities. Aggressive new management of the Maryland Jockey Club is determined to create a year-round fan base that comes to the track on more than one day a year.
"We want to make horseracing cool again," said Tim Ritvo, a former jockey and trainer who now serves as chief operating officer for the Stronach group, which owns Pimlico, Laurel Race Course and the Bowie training facility.
The company is losing more than $3 million year on its Maryland operations, so Ritvo is making bold moves to reverse the trend.
"The economic engine is when somebody learns how to make a bet, and makes a bet, that’s where all our dollars come from," he said. But the initial challenge is to get the bettor to the race track.
Ritvo's first move was to invest $7 million at Laurel, where clubhouse facilities have been upgraded with a new restaurant and simulcast televisions that have been repositioned so viewers of races elsewhere don’t have to turn their backs on live racing a few feet away.
New high definition TV's have been similarly installed at Pimlico. Plus, Ritvo knocked down a wall at the Baltimore track that blocked a view of the track from the Sports Palace, where high end visitors hang out.
Mike Pons, a Harford county breeder and trainer, noted such simple moves were long overdue.
"These kind of things make guys like myself go. Wow. Hey, they are paying attention," Pons said. "And even my old buddies at the bar had to turn their stools right angle so they could see the TV's. It made us all giggle."
Ritvo also launched Sunday racing, and has built a schedule to keep the business operating locally year-round. He’s also planning a family entertainment center at Laurel that could include an arcade and a pool hall.
Trainer Linda Guadet said the local racing industry seems to be reacting well to the changes.
"The horseman are behind him, the breeders are behind them and so everything that they've asked us, at everything step along the way they’ve asked for our opinion. We've said yes, yes, yes, yes, because we were so desperate for any type of change and all the ideas were things we thought would work.”
Ritvo has also shut down the training facilities at what used to be known as Bowie Race Track. Most of the horse owners and trainers housed there have now moved into two new vast new barns at Laurel, which seems likely to soon become the epicenter of Maryland horseracing.
The gloomy question is whether the historic Pimlico Track—home not only of the Preakness, but the storied Match Race between Seabiscuit and War Admiral, will have to be shuttered.
Ritvo says everything is on the table.
"We will look at all viable options, but from a business perspective, it's always better to be taking care of one facility, and continue to do upgrades to that facility all the time, rather than have two monstrous buildings."
Thus, it's possible that this year's Preakness will be last for Old Hilltop. I'm Karen Hosler, for 88.1 WYPR.
**Web Extra**
New documentary on the history of Maryland’s horse-racing to air next week.
Various segments of Maryland’s thoroughbred racing industry have jointly financed production of a documentary tracing the state's nearly 300-year history with race horses.
A free screening of the program, dubbed "Racing the Times," will be shown Wednesday May, 13, at Baltimore's Senator Theater. Reservations can be requested here.
The program will premier on Maryland Public Television Friday, May 15 at 9 p.m., the night before this year's running of the Preakness.
"Racing the Times" was directed by Emmy-award winner, W. Drew Perkins. Among the highlights included are:
--the great match race of 1877, when Congress closed its doors and members rode a train to Pimlico to watch the race;
--the famous Pimlico contest between Sea Biscuit and War Admiral in 1938;
--Maryland farms and legendary horses, such as Sagamore Farm’s Native Dancer, and
--the 1983 Preakness, which marks the last time a Maryland bred, Maryland-trained horse—Deputed Testimony--claimed the trophy.
"The story of Maryland horse racing is as old as the state itself and epic in nature," Perkins said in a press release describing his year and a half-long project.. "Regardless of what challenges history presented, Marylanders have never lost their passion for horses and races. That is the story we tell."