This Preakness Stakes is Laurel Park’s big curtain call

The Preakness Stakes will be held at Laurel Park for the first and only time Saturday, while the famous Triple Crown horse race’s traditional Baltimore home, Pimlico Race Course, undergoes renovations.

It’s a big moment for Laurel Park, which has had its own storied history in the racing industry, dating back to opening day in October 1911. It’s also a bit of a last hurrah, as Laurel Park will cease operations as a racetrack in the next year and convert to a training facility for horses.

“We knew that we were going to be constructing a new Pimlico Race Course, and Pimlico would not be ready to host the 2026 edition of the Preakness,” said Dan Illman, the director of communications for the Maryland Jockey Club. “So Laurel Park was a logical alternative.”

The horse racing fans who have flocked to Laurel every week for decades will, of course, be disappointed when the colts cross the finish line for the last time there at some point in the near future. The facility’s permanent closure and demolition appeared imminent when the Maryland General Assembly voted against future funding for Laurel Park improvements in April 2024.

That changed this year, when Gov. Wes Moore announced a plan for the state of Maryland’s acquisition of Laurel Park for $48.5 million, when the cost of developing Shamrock Farm proved unexpectedly costly. Now, most of the hundreds of people employed at Laurel Park will continue working in the same, familiar place.

“Today, we are taking a historic step to preserve a legacy that has defined our state for more than a century,” Moore said in a press release in April.

Now, Laurel Park’s continued role in that legacy is assured.

“A lot of the workers here that already maintain office space at Laurel Park, that office space will be retained,” said Illman. “They will also have office space at Pimlico, so no jockey club employees are expected to be affected by this, the horsemen are not expected to be affected by this, and the employees that have housing on the backstretch at Laurel Park will not be affected at all.”

As we head into Preakness festivities, though, the details of that deal are not entirely settled. Just last week, on May 7, Maryland legislators delayed their decision on the Laurel Park purchase for 45 days to request more information from the Maryland Stadium Authority and conduct a thorough cost-benefit analysis.

A new era at Laurel Park

The gregarious and knowledgeable Illman was hired by the Maryland Jockey Club in 2024 after 25 years as a columnist and correspondent for the Daily Racing Form.

“I have been around horse racing my entire life, I absolutely love it, and I really feel like there’s a bright future here,” Illman said. “We’re looking forward to sort of melding history and a new era of racing.”

Last week, trainer Cherie DeVaux decided that Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo would not race in Preakness, eliminating the possibility of a horse winning the Triple Crown this year with a hat trick of wins at the Derby, Preakness and the Belmont Stakes.

“I think it’s going to be an exceptional betting race now that Golden Tempo is not coming,” Illman said. “The race seems wide open on paper.”

One of Laurel Park’s own horses, Taj Mahal, is a serious contender to watch on Saturday. Taj Mahal is trained by Brittany Russell, who is based at Laurel Park and has won three races there.

“So it’s very exciting to have a horse that is based at Laurel Park, trained by Brittany, who is here every single racing day and supports the product,” Illman said. “We’re really looking forward for the hometown horse to give a good effort.”

Russell would be the first female trainer to win the Preakness if Taj Mahal places first.

Laurel Park’s 115-year history as a race course has had some legendary moments long before it became the temporary home of the Preakness. Triple Crown winners Secretariat, Sir Barton, War Admiral, Seattle Slew and Whirlaway all ran at Laurel Park. The Washington, D.C., International, later renamed the Baltimore Washington International Turf Cup, was held in Laurel every year from 1952 to 1994, becoming a major attraction in the ’60s. As an occasional concert venue and festival grounds, Laurel Park has welcomed stars like Simon & Garfunkel, Led Zeppelin, and Miles Davis.

“There’s a tremendous amount of history, and it is bittersweet to close that history down,” Illman said. “But the fact that it will still remain a training center means that the stars of tomorrow get an opportunity to prepare to make their legacy at Pimlico.”

Organizers 1/ST Racing have decided to cap the attendance of the 2026 Preakness at 4,800, less than a tenth of the 63,000 at Pimlico in 2025, and the companion concert event, Infield Fest, is not happening this year.

Even with a more intimate gathering planned, however, it will be the biggest thing to happen at Laurel Park in many years.

“Laurel is a really cool town, and we hope that the folks not only from Baltimore come down, but we hope that folks from Kentucky, folks from New York, racing fans from throughout the mid-Atlantic area, and perhaps even international racing fans,” Illman said. “So we’d like to put a spotlight on Laurel, we’d like to put a spotlight on the area. It’s given so much to Laurel Park over the years, and we want to be a great community partner and introduce Laurel to the world.”