Hogan: State has role in saving Preakness, but Md. won’t foot the tab

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Talks between Baltimore City and the owners of Pimlico and the Preakness should include state officials, Gov. Larry Hogan says.

Baltimore City and The Stronach Group are expected to begin a period of good-faith discussions following a decision by Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young to withdraw a lawsuit seeking to keep the race in the city. But Hogan, speaking to reporters Thursday in East Baltimore, stopped short of detailing what role the state would take in negotiations aside from reiterating opposition to pumping hundreds of millions in state aid into renovating the crumbling facility.

“The state has a lot to do with what happens with the race,” said Hogan. “We’ll certainly be part of that conversation.”

The fate of the race in Baltimore at the crumbling venue is uncertain. The Stronach Group has committed to running the race at Pimlico through next year.

In recent years The Stronach Group and others have been eyeing Laurel Race Course as a new venue for the second leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown. The Canadian company owns both tracks as well as the Preakness and racetracks across the country.

“It’s a confusing situation,” Hogan said Thursday morning in an interview on WBAL radio just before his appearance in East Baltimore. “The Stronach Group owns both racetracks and they own the race. The state has a vested interest and the city has a vested interest and we’re certainly parties to the discussion, but we can’t dictate what a private business does.”

The race generates as much as $40 million in economic impact and positive publicity for a beleaguered city beset with a growing identity linked to violence since 2015.

The 149-year old Baltimore track and fan facilities are in poor condition. Nearly 6,700 grandstand seats were closed this year in advance of the Preakness. Barns on the property are decrepit. One study estimated the price of renovating the venue at $420 million.

“It’s unfortunate that $400 million has become the talking point, because I don’t think it will take that much, at least for the first investment to keep the Preakness at Pimlico,” said Sen. Antonio Hayes, D-Baltimore.

“The racing commission has some regulatory authority that they really haven’t exercised,” said Hayes, who co-authored a letter to the Maryland Racing Commission alleging the owners of the Preakness have “pursued a deliberate strategy of allowing Pimlico to sink into disrepair so it can move the Preakness out of Baltimore City.”

The exact role of the state in those conversations is unclear. Hogan has repeatedly rejected calls for the state to foot the tab for rebuilding the racetrack.

“That’s the real issue: $420 million for three days of racing doesn’t make sense to anyone,” said Hogan. “Stronach isn’t going to pay that and neither is the city and neither is the state.”

The Stronach Group told lawmakers earlier this year that its vision of Pimlico would be as an economic development tool where commercial and residential properties serve as a bridge between a growing Sinai Hospital campus and the neighborhood. The Preakness would move 30 miles south to Laurel as part of a move to a super-track concept the company has employed in other states.

Speaking on WBAL, Hogan said, “There is a great opportunity for redevelopment in that community, which we really need to do with Sinai Hospital. We need to get all the players together and figure out what’s the best thing we can do for that community.”

“The race is one day,” said Hogan. “That community has issues and problems every single day of the year. What we do with the redevelopment there, with or without the race, with or without the track, is going to affect people’s lives even more.”

A move out of Baltimore would still require some approval.

State law requires the Preakness Stakes to be run at Pimlico. It may only be run elsewhere in Maryland as a result of a “disaster or emergency.”

Baltimore City on Wednesday withdrew its condemnation lawsuit that sought to use eminent domain to preserve the race in the city. Young said in the announcement he remains committed to preserving the racetrack and keeping the Preakness in Baltimore.

The move was praised by both Hogan and Hayes.

“I think the mayor in his wisdom decided to take a pause,” Hayes said. “He’s new to the conversation. The decision allows us to see if we can come to an agreement to keep (the Preakness) in Baltimore.”