Stronach lawsuit, Pimlico report unlikely to block Preakness move

The sun broke through the clouds early Saturday afternoon and provided a near-perfect autumn day at Laurel Park for the racing festival that has grown up around the Jim McKay Maryland Million.

If each one seems more and more like a junior Preakness with the big stage and the daylong concert taking place just beyond the clubhouse turn, that’s probably not a coincidence. It’s looking more and more like Laurel will be the future home of the second jewel of horse racing’s Triple Crown.

Not that it would be a huge surprise. Just about everything has been pointing in that direction for years. Next month, the Maryland Stadium Authority is expected to release its report on the feasibility of building a new Pimlico Race Course. But even if that’s the recommendation and there is significant public support for the project, it still might be a hard sell.

“We’re open-minded at this stage. … We really are,’’ said Belinda Stronach, chairman and president of The Stronach Group, which owns Pimlico and Laurel Park. “We want to do things respectfully, because — I get it — there’s a lot of passion and history and that means something. I understand that.”

If you’re trying to read between those lines, it’s not necessary. Stronach and Tim Ritvo, The Stronach Group’s chief operating officer for racing and gaming, continue to make the case that it is increasingly impractical to operate two racetracks in such close proximity.

“We’re waiting on the MSA study,’’ Ritvo said. “We want to see how that comes out. It’s supposed to be out after the election. And then we’ll study everything. No private company would have two racetracks as close to each other and invest similar money. It just doesn’t make good business sense.”

Stronach’s vision for the future of horse racing — both in Maryland and around the See SCHMUCK, page 10