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 Pimlico race course is a historic horse race course in Baltimore, Maryland
that features thoroughbred racing. It is the traditional home of the second
jewel
of horse racing’s Triple Crown – the Preakness Stakes – which
makes it one of the most important race tracks in America. Other big events
hosted by the race track are the Pimlico Race Course Special, the Federico Tesio Stakes,
the Jim
McKay Breeders Cup Handicap and the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes.
Pimlico race course has a Loam oval track, a Turf course and a Grass course. Below are
the track facts:
Loam Track
- Length of stretch from last turn to finish line : 1,152 feet
- Width of track : 70 feet
- Has a six-furlong and 1 ¼ mile chutes
Turf Course
- 7/8 of a mile inside main track
- Has an aluminum inner rail
Grass Course
- A mixture of sandy clay loam, 65% turf type tall fescue, 25% turf type
perennial ryegrass, and 10% blue grass.
- Grass height is maintained at four to five inches during racing season.
| New Grandstand |
5,692 |
| Old Grandstand |
5,926 |
| Clubhouse |
1,269 |
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| Total Daily Seating Capacity |
13,047 |
| Standing Room (estimated) |
22,000 |
| Infield Capacity (estimated) |
60,000 |
Race Course
On a late summer evening dinner party in 1868 in Saratoga, an agreement among
sportsmen to stage a special race became the foundation for the establishment
of both the Pimlico race course and the Preakness Stakes.
Governor Oden Bowie of Maryland, a horseman and racing entrepreneur, pledged
to build a new race track for a proposed stake race to be run in the fall of
1870 for three-year old colts and fillies at two miles. John Hunter, a prominent
citizen of New York, proposed that it be known as the Dinner Party Stakes in
honor of the evening. The governor then perked up the gathering by offering
a purse of $15,000, a staggering sum in those days.
Thus, with Governor Bowie's help, the Maryland Jockey Club negotiated for
the acreage known as Pimlico race course that same year. The new course, engineered by
Gen. John Elliott, opened on October 25, 1870 and the Dinner Party Stakes was
run. It was won by the colt Preakness who beat among others, Governor Bowie’s
fillie, My Maryland.
Nevertheless, Bowie had the satisfaction of putting Baltimore on the thoroughbred
racing map with the Dinner Party Stakes and naming the eventual second jewel
of the Triple Crown as the Preakness. The Dinner Party Stakes went on to become
the Dixie Handicap (now known as the Early Times Dixie), the eighth oldest
stakes in America, run annually at Pimlico race course.
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