March 31, 201
Maryland Racing Shifts to Historic Pimlico Race Course Thursday, April 2
$1.5 Million Preakness (G1) May 16 Highlights 37-Day Spring Meet
Pick 5 with Industry Low Takeout; 10-Cent Rainbow 6 Comes to Pimlico
21 Stakes Including Black-Eyed Susan (G2) and Pimlico Special (G3)
Eclectic Music Events and Ultimate Girls Day Out Preakness Weekend
BALTIMORE – Championship racing returns to historic Pimlico Race Course onThursday for the opening of its 37-day spring meet, highlighted by the 140th renewal of the $1.5 million Preakness Stakes (G1) May 16.
The middle jewel of the Triple Crown, the 1 3/16-mile Preakness, will anchor an eight-stakes card that includes the Longines Dixie (G2), Gallorette Handicap (G3) and Maryland Sprint Handicap (G3).
In all, 21 stakes races worth $4,325,000 will be offered during the marquee meet of the Maryland racing season, which concludes on Saturday, June 6.
Fans attending ‘Old Hilltop’ beginning Thursday will see a number of improvements and new wagering opportunities. Those include:
§ A Pick 5 with an industry-low 12 percent takeout.
§ A 10-cent Rainbow 6 that has produced life-changing payoffs.
§ The broadcast of its spring meet in high-definition television
§ More than 150 new televisions
§ Two new broadcast sets
§ A renovated and updated Sports Palace
Meanwhile, along with the 140th running of the Preakness Stakes, Preakness week will feature a number of special events as well as some of the world’s biggest music acts at InfieldFest at the Preakness.
“We’re very, very excited about this meet at Pimlico,” said Maryland Jockey Club General Manager Sal Sinatra. “After getting input from our fans and horsemen, we’ve made a number of improvements to our facility, our broadcast, and our wagering menu. We believe the industry-low takeout on the Pick 5 and the debut of the 10-cent Rainbow 6 will engage our regular bettors but also attract new customers to our product.
“As always, our events throughout the meet, particularly Preakness week, are incredible. InfieldFest will feature some of the biggest names in entertainment and many of these events will raise awareness for Susan G. Komen Maryland, Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, and the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. It’s an exciting time for Thoroughbred racing in Maryland.”
Live racing will be held Thursday through Sunday prior to Preakness weekend, with the exception of Easter Sunday, April 5. Racing runs Thursday to Monday, May 21-25; Friday to Sunday, May 29-31; and Thursday to Saturday, June 4-6.
Thursday’s opening day card features nine races, including a field of seven older sprinters in the featured $42,000 allowance going five furlongs on the main track. First race post time is 1:10 p.m.
Fans will receive free admission and a free live program on Thursday. Saturday is Jockey Celebration Day at Pimlico, with a T-shirt giveaway and 3-Buck-Cup Giveaway, good for $3 domestic drafts during the meet.
Saturday is also the first of three Whips International Turf Starter Handicap races during the meet, for colts and geldings and fillies and mares which have run for $5,000 or less in 2014-15, continuing May 2 and June 6. There will be a $5,000 bonus to the trainers of horses that have the most points after the series. Points will be awarded from first to third with every starter getting a point.
Preakness day highlights a unique weekend at Pimlico that will include the return of the Ultimate Girls Day Out on Preakness eve, May 15, along with the running of the $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2) for 3-year-old fillies, the $300,000 Longines Dixie (G2) for 3-year-olds and up on the turf, and the $300,000 Pimlico Special (G3) for 3-year-olds and up.
Pimlico is also offering a $50,000 bonus to each owner and trainer who runs a horse in the Pimlico Special that has won a previous Triple Crown event. If a horse has won two Triple Crown events, the bonus will be $100,000 to both the trainer and owner.
Meanwhile, Pimlico will offer bonus money totaling $100,000 to trainers who run in a minimum of five stakes and starter races during Preakness weekend. The trainer with the most points will receive $50,000, second $25,000, third $12,000, fourth $7,000, fifth $4,000 and sixth $2,000.
To earn any part of the point bonus, trainers must saddle a minimum of five horses in the Preakness, Longines Dixie, Pimlico Special, Black-Eyed Susan, James Murphy, Gallorette, Chick Lang, Sir Barton, Deputed Testamony, Maryland Sprint Handicap, Jim McKay Turf Sprint, Hilltop, Allaire DuPont Distaff (G3), Miss Preakness (G3), Skipat, Kattegaat’s Pride and The Very One.
In addition to a 14-race program, Preakness day includes the 2015 InfieldFest headlined by Grammy nominees Armin van Buuren and Childish Gambino. Additional information can be found on www.preakness.com.
The second-biggest day on the Maryland racing calendar behind Preakness day in terms of purses, attendance and handle, Black-Eyed Susan day features 13 races and events to benefit both Susan G. Komen Maryland and the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance. Additional information can be found onwww.blackeyedsusanday.com.
New to Pimlico this year are a Pick 5 wager with an industry-low 12 percent takeout, as well as a 10-cent Rainbow 6 on the last six races of each race day. The popular multi-race wager has produced life-changing payoffs at Gulfstream Park, including $3.59 million in 2013 and a pick six-record $6.6 million last May.
The Rainbow 6 will be offered on the last six races of each day at Pimlico. The Rainbow 6 carryover jackpot is paid out only when there is a single ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 60 percent of that day’s pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners, while 40 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool. The bet has produced payoffs as high as $6.6 million.
A 1 1/16-mile dirt test for 3-year-olds that serves as the local Preakness prep, the $100,000 Federico Tesio will help kick off Pimlico’s stakes schedule on an April 18 program that offers six stakes worth $575,000.
Pimlico Live Racing Schedule
April 2-3-4
April 9-10-11-12
April 16-17-18-19
April 23-24-25-26
April 30-May 1-2-3
May 7-8-9-10
May 14-15-16
May 21-22-23-24-25
May 29-30-31
June 4-5-6
About Pimlico Race Course
Historic Pimlico Race Course, home of the Preakness® Stakes, the middle jewel in horse racing’s famed Triple Crown, first opened its doors on October 25, 1870, and is the second oldest racetrack in the United States. Pimlico has played host to racing icons and Baltimoreans have seen the likes of legendary horses such as Man o’ War, Seabiscuit, Secretariat, Affirmed and Cigar thunder down the stretch in thrilling and memorable competition. For more information on Pimlico, visit www.pimlico.com.
Pimlico Race Course is a Stronach Group company, North America’s leading Thoroughbred racetrack owner/operator. The Stronach Group racetracks include Santa Anita Park, Gulfstream Park & Casino, Golden Gate Fields, Portland Meadows, Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course, home of the world-famous Preakness. The company owns and operates the Palm Meadows Training Center in Florida and is one of North America’s top race horse breeders through its award-winning Adena Springs operation. The Stronach Group is one of the world’s largest suppliers of pari-mutuel wagering systems, technologies and services. Its companies include AmTote, a global leader in wagering technology; Xpressbet, an Internet and telephone account wagering service; and Monarch Content Management, which acts as a simulcast purchase and sales agent of horseracing content for numerous North American racetracks and wagering outlets. The Stronach Group is also a major producer of televised horse racing programming through its HRTV cable and satellite network and is North America’s premier supplier of virtual online horse racing games, as well as a leading producer of social media content for the horseracing industry. For more information contact David Joseph at david.joseph@marylandracing.com or call 954.457.6451.
Press Release Courtesy of Stronach Group