Though the first racetrack that my Dad and horse racing mentor introduced me to was Timonium on a sunny, summer day in 1964, Pimlico, aka Old Hilltop, will forever have a place in this Baltimore-bred’s heart. As the Pimlico I have known for 60+ years will feel the wrecking ball shortly following Preakness 150 to make way for a rebuilt facility, it seems appropriate to share my favorite Pimlico memories.

Here’s a lucky 7-pack of my Pimlico memories:

1. Preakness Day 1979: The smartest guy in the infield. My maiden voyage on the Pimlico Infield. As a slightly sheltered and introverted 21-year-old, the sights, sounds and activities I witnessed that day were forever burned into my memory bank. Yet experiencing the Infield was not the best part of my day; that occurred when 1-5 favorite Spectacular Bid easily won the Preakness Stakes with the longest price Golden Act (15-1) completing the exacta, which I bet cold for $5. The exacta returned a generous $15.60 for $2, and I felt like the smartest guy on the infield, which may well have been accurate based on the condition of most infield patrons by the time the Preakness was declared official.

2. Fall Meet 1991: Our Northern Baby. One weekend in the fall of 1991, my Mom and Dad visited from their retirement home on the Jersey Shore to spend time with my then 7-months pregnant wife Jeanne and me. Turns out I didn’t have to twist my Dad’s arm to spend the afternoon at Pimlico, and our better halves joined us, too. It was a beautiful day, spending most of it on the Pimlico apron enjoying fresh air. My father and I studied the past performances, while our wives searched for hunch plays. Lo and behold, in a turf sprint race was a filly named Northern Baby. When your wife is seven months pregnant, betting Northern Baby was a no-brainer. As fate would have it, Northern Baby won and I promptly kissed my wife’s belly, thanking my unborn son.

3. Black-Eyed Susan Day 1997: Bridgejumper alert. Blushing K. D., who two weeks earlier won the Kentucky Oaks, entered the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes as did six other less-accomplished 3-year-old fillies. Blushing KD was the 2-5 morning line favorite, which the betting public thought was an overlay, sending her off as the 1-9 post time favorite. Meanwhile, I was working that day at Pimlico in the clubhouse behind one of the parimutuel lines as a supervisor. A few minutes prior to the race, I overheard a gentleman stating his bet, “Gimme $2 on every horse except number 4 [Blushing K. D.].” As we made eye contact, we both kind of smirked and nodded as if to say, “Bridgejumper Alert.”

There was six-figures wagered on Blushing K. D. to show. Approximately five minutes later, Blushing K. D. finished a non-threatening fourth, which ignited huge show payoffs. Winner Salt It paid $22.20 to win — and $62.40 to show. The place and show horses returned $72.20 and $95.00 to show, respectively. 

4. Preakness Day 2015: Pharoah rules. American Pharoah ridden by victor Espinoza, trained by Bob Baffert, dominated his rivals in a torrential downpour with lightning in the background as the field headed down the backstretch.

5. April 13, 2013: Spicer Cub’s long way home. No commentary needed, just watch the replay. Click anywhere here to pop up the video in a lightbox.

6. Pimlico Special May 18, 2012: Nearly Nehro. Over the years the prestigious Pimlico Special has been run on different days of the year. In 2012, it was part of the Black-Eyed Susan Day card, and one of my best bets for the day was the Steve Asmussen-trained Nehro. Nehro’s off-the-pace running style fit perfectly in the race that I thought was primed for a pace meltdown.

The participants with early speed did not disappoint me. A quartet separated by less than two lengths contested the 1 3/16-mile event through quick, early fractions which played into the hands of closers like Nehro. Ten lengths back early, he made his run at the leaders entering the stretch and continued to pass rivals as the finish line approached with just one more rival to catch, which he did one stride before the wire — but lost that lead at the wire with what we degenerate horseplayers refer to as “a bad bob,” as documented in the official Equibase Result Chart comments. “Nehro between rivals early, settled back off the pace, commenced his run leaving the far turn, circled five-wide into the stretch, closed willingly and just lost the nose bob.”. 

Ugh. But the best part of this memory is still to come. The next day (Preakness Day) I was contracted by MJC to provide handicapping advice in the Corporate Village section of the Pimlico infield. Early in the day I happen to see a sunglass-wearing Steve Assmussen (as if any of the corporate-types in attendance would recognize him). As I strolled toward him, as if to just walk by, I inconspicuously stopped at his side, and without making eye contact I said, “You have no idea how much Nehro’s loss broke my heart.”

Without blinking, the trainer blurted out, “Can you f—king believe that?! Ugh! He’s only got so many races in him due to the issues he’s been having… we all thought he won it.” I was amazed by his candor. It was as if I was a friend or maybe counselor or therapist, as he put his guard down and spilled his guts on what must have been a gut-wrenching loss, a six-figure one which was the difference between the first and second place purses.

The footnote: Nehro only raced twice more, failing to hit the board in either start.

7. Preakness Day May 19, 1990: One long day. The year before I lost my mind and asked the love of my life (now my ex) if she’d marry me, I thought it would be interesting to work one Preakness as a parimutuel clerk. Long story short, I applied, got hired on the condition that I pass the training on the AmTote machine, which I did. In the weeks leading up to Preakness Day, all new hires got the opportunity to work a few Saturdays to gain much-needed experience for the third Saturday in May. Wanting to be outside and take in the true Preakness atmosphere, I requested the infield. I was probably the only idiot who did and was assigned to the Mango Pavilion, then the largest open-air building on the Pimlico infield, having about a hundred teller machines. Betting windows opened at 9:30am Preakness Day.

When I was ready to take my first bet, I looked down the line that had formed at my window and could not see where it ended, and it remained that way for the next 8+ hours. Clerks were allowed to take two 15-minute breaks. I took my first about 4 hours into my day, looked for a friendly face in my line and said, “I really need to go to the bathroom. You will be my first customer when I get back in about 15 minutes.” That customer replied, “That’s OK, because if I get in another line, it’ll be another hour before I get my bets in.”

That afternoon, as the horses entered the starting gate for the Preakness at 6:35pm, I punched tickets for the last customer in my line. My nightmare was just about to begin, though, as the top three betting choices in the field of nine ran one-two-three, triggering a huge wave of patrons returning to the windows to cash their bets, and I went through more rolls of dimes than I care to remember.