The smart money is still on Pimlico

The cynical among us can be forgiven if they scoffed at the latest plan to revive Baltimore’s dilapidated Pimlico Race Course, home to the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown. But the new (or perhaps more accurately, revised) blueprint for the track may be the most sensible, most practical one yet. As detailed in a 16-page report from the Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority, created last year by the General Assembly to recommend a path forward for Maryland racing, Pimlico would be closed shortly after the next running of the Preakness in four months to undergo a $400 million renovation and the big race diverted to Laurel Park for two years.