Pimlico
Pimlico Race Track 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 Special, the Federico Tesio Stakes, the Jim McKay Breeders Cup Handicap and the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes.
Pimlico 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.
Pimlico Race Track Capacity
New Grandstand | 5,692 |
Old Grandstand | 5,926 |
Clubhouse | 1,269 |
Total Daily Seating Capacity | 13,047 |
Standing Room (estimated) | 22,000 |
Infield Capacity (estimated) | 60,000 |
Pimlico History
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 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.
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Race Track List
- Alameda Fair
- Aqueduct
- Arlington Park
- Balmoral Park
- Bay Meadows
- Belmont Park
- Beulah Park
- Big Fresno Fair
- Breeders' Cup
- Breeders' Cup Futures
- Cal Expo
- Calder Race Course
- Charles Town Races
- Churchill Downs
- Del Mar
- Delaware Park
- Delta Downs
- Dover Downs Raceway
- Downs at Albuquerque
- Ellis Park
- Emerald Downs
- Evangeline Downs
- Fairplex Park
- Ferndale
- Finger Lakes
- Fort Erie
- Golden Gate Fields
- Great Lakes Downs
- Gulfstream Park
- Harrington Raceway
- Hastings Racecourse
- Hawthorne Race Course
- Hazel Park
- Hollywood Park
- Hoosier Park
- Indiana Downs
- Keeneland
- Laurel Park
- Lone Star Park
- Louisiana Downs
- Maywood Park
- Meadowlands
- Mohawk
- Monmouth Park
- Monticello Raceway
- Mountaineer Race Track
- Northfield Park
- Oaklawn Park
- Penn National
- Philadelphia Park
- Pimlico Race Course
- Plainridge Racecourse
- Pocono Downs
- Pompano Park
- Prairie Meadows
- Remington Park
- Retama Park
- River Downs
- Rockingham Park
- Sam Houston Race Park
- San Mateo County Fair
- Santa Anita Park
- Saratoga
- Scioto Downs
- Sonoma Country Fair
- Suburban Downs
- Suffolk Downs
- The Meadows
- The Red Mile
- Thistledown
- Timonium Race Course
- Turf Paradise
- Turfway Park
- Woodbine Race Track
- Yavapai Downs
- Yonkers Raceway