Pimlico Racecourse is set in 116 acres in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. Pimlico officially opened in 1870, making it the second oldest racecourse in the country after Saratoga. Today, the racecourse is best known as the home of the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the American Triple Crown, run over 9½ furlongs on the third Saturday in May each year.
Course Characteristics
The main track at Pimlico is a left-handed, dirt oval, 70 feet wide and one mile in circumference, with a home straight of one and three-quarter furlongs. The turf track, which consists of a 9:1 ratio of tall fescue grass and blue grass, maintained at a height of four to five inches, runs inside the main track and has a circumference of 7 furlongs.
Track Facts
The Preakness Stakes was first run in 1873, two years before the inaugural Kentucky Derby.
The Preakness Stakes has been run annually at Pimlico, without interruption, since 1909.
The 18 inch by 90 inch blanket of Black-eyed Susans traditionally draped across the shoulders of the Preakness Stakes winner takes three people two days to create.
As soon as the official result of the Preakness Stakes is declared, a painter climbs the replica of the old Members’ Clubhouse cupola in the winners’ enclosure to paint the weather vane in the colours of the winning horse.