About Pimlico

[Merlinsky]

Okay seeing the Pimlico Special taken off the card this year was upsetting but it just got me to angsting over Maryland racing in general. The spill at Laurel, the slots, Barbaro's incident at the Preakness, the general mess that is Pimlico...

It's just my own instinct that, when the idea is to scale back, what they actually need to do is ramp it up. Instead of trying to hold on to what could very well be a lost cause and wrings hands they ought to be focusing on nothing less than some grand scheme of making Pimlico worthy of the Breeders' Cup. Yes that's right. One thing that got the Pimlico Special started in the first place was Vanderbilt's attempt to revive the track by bringing in the Seabiscuit/War Admiral match race. If you're not growing, you're shrinking and if you're shrinking, you're dying.

Maryland Millions? Bah humbug (sorry but you want that to be the biggest thing in Maryland? really? How about something internationally renowned besides a Triple Crown race)--Stronach and the Maryland legislature need to get their heads out of their arses or they'll screw up the Preakness. Which side is more at fault for the current financial situation? Spend the right amount of money in the right way and it'll come back in piles. If Lone Star's able to host the Breeders' Cup, Pimlico's got no excuse. Try to keep the working man's races going? Sure that's all noble and everything but I believe the book on Funny Cide by the Sackatoga folks said that many horses cost $2 for every $1 they bring in on the track--seems like it's already an uphill battle. The more you cut into the prestigeous events, the greater the perception that Pimlico's in a slide and you're doing the working guy a disservice. It robs Peter to pay Paul. You want people to think it's only getting bigger and better--that they don't want to miss investing in this gravy train. Sure it might initially be a bunch of crap but "if you build it, they will come" i.e. if you 'sell' it, it might happen. PR made the Derby what it was. The minute a neighborhood gets a perception as a slum, it becomes one. You want to spend more than might be prudent initially to regain momentum or you'll lose in the end. It'll cost end up costing more and I don't just mean money but jobs. The better Maryland racing does, the more tax money comes in and the more who're employed. How hard is that to understand? And yes it'll hurt but would they rather it hurt some and get better or hurt a lot and get worse? *dismounts soapbox*