Optimism rising about the future of Pimlico with rebuild looming
Frankie Brothers walked into the grandstand at Pimlico Race Course in the late 1980s and early ’90s with his head on a swivel.
“I always made sure I knew where the exit was because if somebody dropped a cigarette or something like that, that place would’ve went up in flames,” the longtime trainer said. “Just an old, historic place.”
Pimlico is still that old, historic place as it’s set to host the 146th Preakness on Saturday. While Bob Baffert-trained Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit failing a postrace drug test hangs over this year’s Preakness, there’s a renewed sense of long-term optimism about the home of the second jewel of horse racing’s Triple Crown.
After years of uncertainty during which the building continued to deteriorate, the owners of the track and government officials reached an agreement to rebuild Pimlico and keep the Preakness in Baltimore.
“Coming together and getting that done was pretty sensational on their part,” said Gary McGuigan, executive vice president of the Maryland Stadium Authority that will oversee design and construction. “Now, do we have a lot of work to do? Sure. Getting operational and financial and land-transfer agreements in place is still a lot of work to do, but, yeah I’d say there’s optimism that it’s moving forward to getting completed.”
There’s still no timetable on when shovels will go into the ground, and work may not be completed until sometime in 2023 — perhaps in time for the Preakness that year, with a chance that it’s not ready until the 2024 Triple Crown. But after track problems at nearby Laurel Park moved racing to Pimlico earlier than normal this spring, there has never been more appreciation for the old place that’s set
try with his father at age 9, escaping by foot and train and even swimming and bicycle.
“I’m one of the thousands, millions of people who have a dream and got it done,” Cejka said.
Swede Robert Karlsson was third at 14 under after a 69 as the top three final threesome played all day without much of a threat from the pack. He finished with a 69.
Ernie Els (66) and Jerry Kelly (70) finished at 11 under. Twotime champion Bernhard Langer closed with a 71 to finish at 9 under with David McKenzie.
Cejka’s only bogey came on the first hole of the day. A fourtime winner on the European Tour, he won the 2015 Puerto
Rico Open for his lone PGA Tour victory.
Cejka kept playing through the COVID-19 pandemic, winning twice on the Arizona-based Outlaw Tour. Now he’s fully exempt for the rest of this season and all of 2022, while also gaining a five-year exemption into both the Regions Tradition and the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai.
On Sunday, Stricker made about a 13-foot birdie putt on the final hole to force the playoff when Cejka two-putted for par after a poor bunker shot.
“He holed a great putt under pressure to go back into the playoff,” Cejka said. “It was a clutch putt. But in the playoff,
I’m a winner. It might be different in 2-3 weeks.”
Cejka had a run of three straight birdies from 12-14 to build a two-stroke advantage heading into the final five holes. Stricker’s long birdie putt on No. 16 cut it in half before both parred 17.
Stricker had been clutch on No. 18 all weekend.
He had birdied Friday to move into a share of the lead and vaulted to the lead solo with a 25-foot eagle putt on Saturday.
Stricker had won both previous times on the PGA Tour Champions when holding the 54-hole lead, the Regions Tradition and U.S. Senior Open Championship, both in 2019.