Horse racing

The Baltimore Banner has embeded with Maryland-based trainer H. Graham Motion as he prepares for the state’s most important race days.

Trainer Kenny McPeek announced the decision to send the horse to Baltimore for the second leg of the Triple Crown next Saturday.

The third Saturday in May at Old Hilltop is worth experiencing at least once if you’ve never been. Here’s a guide on where to sit and how to get to the track, with some tips for the best way to experience this historic event.

Ahead of the 149th Preakness Stakes, state officials are preparing take ownership of Pimlico Race Course, renovate it and run races there — an ambitious plan to revive the thoroughbred horse racing industry.

The colt scarfed down his meal. “I’m big on that. I always believe the faster they eat, the faster they run,” Kenny McPeek said.

“We’re not committed to the Preakness, not yet,” Derby-winning trainer Kenny McPeek said.

The second leg of horse racing's Triple Crown is May 18 at Pimlico.

Legendary Maryland trainer Graham Motion explains how he makes decisions about when his horses are ready to run — and what race they should enter.

In an effort to better understand a trainer’s thought process, The Baltimore Banner will follow H. Graham Motion as he trains a horse for a race happening sometime during the two days of Preakness and the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes.

Other performers include DJ and musician Gryffin, rapper Channel Tres, electronic musician and DJ Frank Walker, and DJ Chantel Jeffries

A source said Churchill has been lobbying to derail a bill in the state legislature that’s necessary for the state ownership deal to go through.

The plan for Maryland’s state government to take over ownership of Baltimore’s historic Pimlico Race Course cleared its first hurdle in Annapolis on Wednesday.

If the deal is approved, the nonprofit that will operate racing will adopt the name of the Maryland Jockey Club, the organization that’s been associated with thoroughbred racing in the state since the 1700s.

Maryland officials and The Stronach Group have agreed to a plan that would transfer Pimlico Race Course to the state, which would build a new racetrack at the historic Northwest Baltimore site and create a nonprofit to run day-to-day horse racing operations.

Laurel Park will temporarily host racing — including the 2026 Preakness Stakes — while Pimlico is rebuilt as part of a $400 million plan.

The move follows similar increases by the other two races in the Triple Crown, the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes.

The two-time Triple Crown winner had appealed his disqualification by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission nearly two years ago for using the topical ointment, which is legal in Kentucky but banned on race day.

The Preakness purse has been $1.65 million, while the Belmont Stakes' was recently raised to $2 million.

It was a banner year all around for Russell, who finished 2023 with 177 wins in 687 starts for nearly $8 million in purse earnings, all career highs.

What we learned from the latest plan to revitalize Maryland horse racing.