Pimlico Spring Stakes Schedule Worth Nearly $3.5 Million

     BALTIMORE, 03-18-08---The Maryland Jockey Club unveiled the 2008 Pimlico spring stakes schedule after reaching agreement with both the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association and Maryland Horse Breeders Association. The schedule was approval by the Maryland Racing Commission earlier this afternoon.

     The headline event of the eight-week stand that begins Thursday, April 17 is the 133rd running of the $1 million Preakness Stakes® (Grade I), the middle jewel of the famed Triple Crown, on May 17. The 31-day meeting at the historic Baltimore track will conclude Saturday, June 7.

     The marquee meet of the Maryland racing season will feature 27 stakes races for purses of $3.465 million. Sixteen of the added-money races, including all nine of the graded stakes for the meet, are slated for Preakness week, including 10 on Preakness Day. The opening Saturday of the spring stand (April 19) features four stakes races, including the Tesio Stakes, a Preakness prep.

     “We are always thrilled to go back to Pimlico in the spring, it is our signature meet of the year,” said Chris Dragone, Maryland Jockey Club president and general manager. “Pimlico is a special place with a tremendous amount of history as the second oldest racetrack in the country. We are excited about the potential of the meet moving forward. It could end up being similar to Del Mar and Saratoga.”

     The Grade I Pimlico Special returns after a one-year hiatus and will be held on May 16, the same day as the Grade II Black-Eyed Susan and four other added money races. The Pimlico Special is the second most prestigious race on the Maryland racing calendar, trailing only the Preakness, and is one of only three Grade I races, along with the Preakness and the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash, annually run in Maryland. Introduced by Alfred Vanderbilt in 1937, the Pimlico Special was the first major stakes race in the United States by invitation only. The 1938 running played host to one of America’s most historic moments when Seabiscuit upset War Admiral in the famed match race. The long-awaited winner-take-all showdown was named “Race of the Century” by Sports Illustrated in 1999 and forever immortalized in the movie Seabiscuit in 2003.

     “I think it is a very important part of Preakness weekend,” added Dragone. “In a perfect world we I would love for it to be a half-million dollar race as it was two years ago. But right now we are in a position where we need to take small steps and play the hand we are dealt. That means a $250,000 purse.”

      With the Pimlico Special returning to the stakes lineup, racing officials have decided not to card the Grade III William Donald Schaefer Handicap in 2008. The $100,000 test for older horses at   1-1/8 miles has been a staple on the Preakness undercard since 1991, but its conditions are too similar to the Pimlico Special this year.

     In addition, Pimlico racing secretary Georganne Hale moved the Allaire duPont Distaff to the Preakness undercard, one day later than usual.

     First post for 27 days of the meeting will be 1:10 p.m. with adjustments on Preakness (10:30 a.m.), Pimlico Special-Black-Eyed Susan (12:15 p.m.), Kentucky Derby (12:45 p.m.) and Belmont Stakes (12:45 p.m.) days.

     The current Laurel Park winter meeting will conclude its 15-week run on April 13.

-MJC-