SNIDER: Could The Preakness move to California?

Imagine the Preakness Stakes with a backdrop of the San Gabriel Mountains, a blanket of California poppies draped across the winner. The famed Maryland race is closer to leaving Pimlico Race Course than ever.

Maryland’s legislature threw a Band-Aid to its suddenly-imploding racetracks on Monday by creating the Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority. The four-year governing panel will oversee daily racing operations, find a buyer should the 1/ST (formerly known as the Stronach Group) bail on Pimlico and Laurel Park, and seek to revive a 2019 plan that funded major renovations to both facilities.

But, it’s still scary times for the racing industry that employs 20,000 statewide, from jockeys to farm workers, while contributing more than $500 million to the economy. The track owners no longer seem interested in their Maryland holdings and transferring the Preakness Stakes is a possibility despite a likely court challenge. The Preakness generates more than $50 million annually, and the only reason the Stronachs have stayed this long. 1/ST has long been rumored of wanting to move the Preakness to Santa Anita so the West Coast could have a piece of the Triple Crown.

What a stunning move to the state’s racing. The Maryland Jockey Club is the nation’s oldest sporting organization, dating to 1743. Why, George Washington’s ledgers show him losing bets at Annapolis races. (Gotta bet early speed over cobblestones, George.)

Maryland’s slow embrace of casino and sports wagering allowed neighboring states to leap over one of the nation’s one-time top racing circuits. Delaware Park, Charles Town, Philadelphia Park and others that were junior circuits 20 years ago now offer more purse money than Maryland, and the breeding industry and tracks suffered heavily.

A 2019 state plan to redevelop tracks via $375 million in bonds backed by casino subsidies was supposed to be a link to the future. Both Pimlico and Laurel would be razed and rebuilt with modern facilities.

And then Covid hit. Three years of delays followed by higher costs have terminated earlier plans. Now, Maryland must start again.

The new panel is a start, but it will take a couple years for the group to figure out the next move. They don’t have time to waste.

Go with one facility. Year-round racing at Laurel is the only path forward. Days of state-wide circuits to create fresh markets rather than grinding down one are gone. Fans anywhere in the country can now wager on any track from their living rooms, so creating multiple locations is antiquated and wasted money.

Laurel has more growth potential than Pimlico. The only reason it hasn’t happened is the Preakness. The sport lives on tradition and wants to keep running the Preakness over the same dirt that Secretariat and War Admiral once danced over for Triple Crown championships.

But, Pimlico is a prisoner of the past. The state needs one track, and Laurel encompasses both the Washington and Baltimore markets. Make Laurel the jewel of Maryland racing and rekindle the state’s reputation as the best racing between New York and Kentucky.

Sure, this means the Preakness moves to a new track, but at least it’s local and not crossing the country.

Albert Einstein said that “the measure of intelligence is the ability to change,” and let’s hope Maryland racing leaders are smart enough to accept it.