https://reason.com/volokh/2019/03/26/baltimore-tries-to-use-eminent-domain-to
Apologies if this is already being discussed, but I thought it might be of interest to people here.
Baltimore needs to focus on it’s poor perfoming public schools and crime rate.
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Yeah because generating revenue and propping up a neighborhood with new infrastructure won’t do anything to help the schools or the crime rate.
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Better-written article from a better-known source:
https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-rac…stronach-group
Its last statement about Marylanders surprised me, but I can’t argue with it. I would think that there are enough wealthy Maryland horse people to undertake to take over Pimlico and refurbish it … it happened for Churchill Downs, and for Belmont, so why not for Pimlico? The Preakness is an older race than the Kentucky Derby, anyway.
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The blog I linked to is written by a group of law professors, several of whom are rather well-known. The author of this particular article teaches at George Mason University. I understand that this source may be unfamiliar to a lot of people in the equine world, but I work in the legal field, and I’m used to seeing this publication referenced as a source of quality legal commentary.
Do understand that these people are lawyers and (probably) not horsemen; their analysis is going to be angled in a certain direction.
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If Baltimore could actually successfully run a race track, sure. Big stretch, as well as funding it. And then you’d have Laurel under one ownership and Pimlico under another, and they would not get along. Just a bad idea all around.
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@Palm Beach I gotta say, I’m with you on this one.
I hate hate hate to see Pimlico go. But too little, too late on this move. Pimlico has been a dilapidated dump, getting worse by the day, for at least 2 decades and the city waits until NOW to pull this?!?
And the city of Baltimore would manage racing at Pimlico? Are you kidding me? They don’t even understand what they are signing up for. Where can I cast my vote of no confidence?
I don’t like the Preakness leaving Baltimore. In my perfect world, an actual, competent investor would swoop in and save the day. Let’s hope by some miracle they have one waiting in the wings. The idea of the city managing the Preakness makes me more nauseous than the idea of the Preakness at Laurel, that’s for sure.
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Google Chrome blocked this site from me with the following on a big orange screen:
“Site Blocked
www.bloodhorse.com
This site has been categorized as Gambling.”
OOooo! Gambling! No, I the public must be protected … 
:winkgrin:
In the upper left corner of the page is a brand name “neustar”. No idea what that is, or why someone is blocking “gambling”.
But that blog is clearly written by a conservative group. George Mason is famous for it’s right wing stances on economics…
I think George Mason U is a popular choice for the horsey folk who don’t want to stray from their Mid Atlantic roots. Although I did not read that blog.
It’s not Chrome “blocking” gambling.
Neustar is firewall/internet monitoring software. Are you at work, on a public network, or do you have protections set on a personal firewall at home? That’s why you’re blocked.
A lot of times workplaces will block all gambling so their employees aren’t playing online poker or checking Vegas odds while on the clock.
A couple places I worked had their firewalls set so that anything horse racing was blocked as well. Those were long days when I couldn’t look up stallions’ statistics from the Jockey Club at work. :lol:
I run into that when I am on public wifi like in the Superior Court. Then I have to switch to cellular. I don’t remember Bloodhorse being a problem but Equibase triggers it and forget about track websites or the DRF 
Never said I agreed with their politics, nor do I always agree with their commentary. I do frequently appreciate it though. And I don’t frequently read Bloodhorse, so this was the first place I saw the news.
Pimlico is a dump and IMHO beyond saving. The bigger problem is how Maryland uses eminent domain laws and how that is killing business development in Maryland. In the past they have tried to use it to take intellectual property rights of businesses. This sends a very negative message to business. It is why Maryland and, in particularly, Baltimore lag in job creation.
To the original point, horse racing is a dying sport in the US. People only get interested in the Triple Crown if there is a horse that is like to win all three. Sometimes, if there is a compelling story, they might care about the breeders cup. It would be an incredibly stupid move for the city or state to try to take over the track or the race. The money spent there would be better spent investing in infrastructure that operates year round.
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To your point Fittonetied, the Triple Crown absolutely is one of a few races that people who don’t follow racing actually care about. The Preakness has always been must watch because it is the race that determines whether there is a possibility of a triple crown. Which is all the more reason that racing as a whole needs to be concerned about making sure the Preakness never loses relevance.
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It seems like Maryland is going to kill the Triple Crown as we know it one way or another.
Moving to Laurel will forever change it. The Preakness may lose its credibility.
But I can’t imagine the city of Baltimore being able to keep it afloat via this condemnation. Even if they have a credible race track operator ready and waiting to take seamlessly take over, how many umpteen layers of bureaucratic red tape will be introduced via this process? Someone is going to need to hemorrhage money into Pimlico; the city government doesn’t have those funds. Even if they did, they can’t just allocate them to this project freely. Then when you consider the state of Baltimore’s governance, the picture begins looking downright bleak.
Maybe I’m being short-sighted, but only good outcome I can imagine from the city acquiring Pimlico is if they have a racing-savvy investor lined up to purchase it from them and make the necessary renovations. But that scenario comes with some scary legal baggage IMO. “We don’t like how you’re running your business so we’re going to take it from you and sell it to someone else.”
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They want to condemn the racetrack to get the property and sell it to developers in all likelihood. Perhaps putting the money earned that way into schools might help with grammatically challenged titles with fake news…they are not condemning the Preakness Stakes, Just the oroperty it is run on. They can move the race and keep the name. By all reports, track is in sorry shape and needs many millions in renovation from sources other then already depleted public coffers.
No they definitely want the race and all it’s trademarks. That was very clear in the article. Not saying that will happen but that is what they are asking for.
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Another Stronach track…
https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/232861/portland-meadows-will-not-reopen-for-racing
With the mayor being called to step down, I wonder if anything will actually come of this.
Side note: I want Giacomo since Oregon racing is going down in flames. Call me maybe?
Second side note: aw hell, he isn’t even active for 2019. WHERE IS HE?
