Preakness

[JimP]

Given this: https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/horse-racing/bs-md-pugh-stronach-20190219-story.html

My question: Who owns the rights to The Preakness name?

[FrankD.]

Jim,

I believe that the state of Maryland owns the rights to the Preakness brand. They passed some legislation a number of years back when they were worried team Stronach would move the race to Santa Anita. I was not aware of a law requiring the race to be run in Baltimore, if that is accurate?

The Stronach group has been planning the move to Laurel for quite a few years.
They will not spend a penny at Pimlico. There is no way in this political and economic climate that a broke ass city will pony up the needed funds. Zig Ziglar could not sell the historical ticket to anyone in a city with mounds of severe problems and a budget deficit. Nor will the state of Maryland appropriate 400 million for 12 racing days a year for posterities sake.

I was there once in 1978 for Affirmed & Alydar, it was a dump then. Fairmount was there this year for the Preakness and claims “ Fairmount Park is a better venue than Pimlico”....

For those unfamiliar with the person mentioned above....
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zig_Ziglar

[wrongly1]

I can attest to the fact that Pimlco is a complete dump and should be torn down.  Why not force Stronach to sell Pimlco then partner with another gaming company like Penn National.  Let them make the investment.  It seems strange that Stronach is able to continue to hold the Preakness up for ransom.

[Rich Curtis]

\"Pimlico is a complete dump and should be torn down.\"

Amen. Sometimes you just need to start over. The British had the right idea (albeit the wrong century) when they torched the ####ing White House.

[littlebird]

Pimlico has become a “dump” due to years and years of willful and strategic neglect by the Stronach gang
Stronach has his prejudices

[albatross]

I started going to Preakness in 87 and made it for 4 or 5 years until I’d had enough. I rememeber overpriced “private parking”, scarier than the Orange Bowl, standing for 6,7 hours on slanted cement floors. Having women wait 45 minutes to get into the filthy bathrooms, Thank God we had some clout, and were in the Clubhouse. An absolute dump, well before King Frank arrived by the way. I do remember a great birthday in 88 meeting and spending a few hours with the great Pete Axhelm. We had some great laughs and reconnected at Monmouth and Saratoga which was a treat for me. As far as prejudice, I’m sure they can find some statues and just flatten the dump and move on.

[ajkreider]

Don\'t get the Stronach hate at all. If there\'s one guy who\'s shown a willingness to invest in the success of game it\'s him.  SMH.  Where are the investors lining up to rescue Pimlico?

Yeah.  The Pegasus statue at GP is a monument to his ego.  Please, let 10 more Stronachs show up in North American racing.

[bluechip21]

This sounds like the Belmont Stakes last year. Except for the clubhouse part. The Bathrooms, the betting were just awful. Safe to say i won’t be attending Flo Rida this year... That bar at the Clubhouse on that day made me feel like I was 21 again at a college bar on a Saturday night, except it was millionaires acting like children. no thanks.

[richiebee]

Can not resist a thread which includes three of my all time favorites: Frankie
Rainbow, Comrade Curtis, and Albatross, who laughed along with me when I poked
some fun at him a while back. If you can not find humor in your own foibles,
you are missing out on a lot of good material.

I concur with all who have observed that Pimlico is, for lack of a more
elegant term, a dump. I visited Pimlico on a non Preakness day in 1984, and
found that both the facility and the surrounding neighborhood were in a state
of decay; I have read no report that would lead me to believe that this
has been reversed. My experience at Pimlico was so uninspiring that year after
year during the eighties and early nineties I gracefully resisted invitations
from friendly Baltimorons to attend the Preakness.

I do not know how long Frank Stronach and his feuding family will control some
of Racing\'s important properties; unfortunately the Stronach family succession
plans (if there are any) as they relate to their racetrack holdings are not
known. My proposal is that if indeed the State of Maryland \"owns\" the
Preakness, Frankstro should buy said rights and turn the middle leg of the
Triple Crown into the proverbial floating crap game. Part of the purchase
would be an agreement that (a) the race would still be run two weeks after the
Kentucky Derby and (b) the race would be run in Maryland (at Laurel and/or at
Pimlico in the highly unlikely (my opinion) event that Pimlico is still in
operation) at least once every three years. The other years, when the race can
be run outside of Maryland, Frank could run the Preakness at either Gulfstream
or Santa Anita. Under this proposal, Frank would retain the right to \"rent\"
the Preakness to other entities (not CD or NYRA, which of course each already
host one Triple Crown event) on a one year basis. I\'m thinking Monmouth and
New Age Oaklawn might be interested in hosting a Triple Crown race; for the
former it would be a great way to kick off the summer; for the latter it would
be a grand way to conclude its newly expanded meet.

A second possibility is that the State of Maryland, the City of Baltimore and
Frank have a falling out, most likely over Frank\'s plans to turn Pimlico into
a vacant lot or a wind farm; Frank is denied the right to the \"Preakness\" name
and brand. No problem: Frank schedules a race at one of his venues, two weeks
after the Kentucky Derby, for 3YOs carrying 126 pounds and running for a
healthy purse. He can call the race the \"Preakasus\".

Right now the traditionalists\' blood is boiling and Jim McKay\'s spirit is
having a hearty chuckle at the arthritic agony I am currently suffering
through; it would be the end of the traditional Triple Crown as we know it.
There would be hand wringing, forehead slapping, and a hue and cry to boycott
the \"Fakeness\". In the end, however, given a large field of mainly overrated
colts and a decent undercard, we will bet with both fists. It\'s what we do.

[Deadrockstar]

Newsflash: Despit some recent and mostly superficial improvements Laurel is a dump too. And way too small to host an event like the Preakness.

[jma11473]

ajkreider Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Don\'t get the Stronach hate at all. If there\'s one
> guy who\'s shown a willingness to invest in the
> success of game it\'s him.  SMH.  Where are the
> investors lining up to rescue Pimlico?
>
> Yeah.  The Pegasus statue at GP is a monument to
> his ego.  Please, let 10 more Stronachs show up in
> North American racing.

Because he invested his money in the most idiotic ways possible and wasted most of it? Someone willing to spend unlimited amounts of money who also had a clue would have been a great credit to racing. Frank wasn\'t that person. And it\'s all going to end up in a court fight and most of Frank\'s properties \"going away\" when he does. Money for nothing....

[albatross]

https://youtu.be/z4wsljGZc6k

The question is, will they bring all the traditions to a new venue

[Tavasco]

I like that the Maryland Jockey Club is providing expense paid invites to winners from other regions.  El Camino Real winner (impressively) Anothertwistoffate and today\'s Oaklawn Invitational winner. A good new idea!

[Flighted Iron]

Couldn\'t disagree more. The place is right nice. As far as being too small,just wait and see.

[boardedup]

The ladies behind the windows are way past working age hence it takes forever to get a bet in, they couldn’t be slower. The clientele’s suspect at best, but the real killer there is the traffic, it was post time at the Belmont by the time me and the girlfriend got out of the lot last time.