After decades of false hopes and dashed dreams, sectarian squabbles and torturous twists, 2025 is the year when Maryland thoroughbred racing will step into its future.
Most obviously to the casual fan, Pimlico Race Course as we know it will host the Preakness Stakes for the final time in May before bulldozers and wrecking balls reshape decaying Old Hilltop into a fresh home for the sport.
But that’s just the tip of the change that will sweep one of the state’s oldest industries in the coming months. Starting on the first day of the new year, daily racing operations will be carried out by a new Maryland Jockey Club, a nonprofit created by the state to take over from The Stronach Group, which in various iterations has run Pimlico and Laurel Park since 2002.
The state will attempt to reinvigorate its signature race, the Preakness, with a weeks-long festival announced earlier this month by Gov. Wes Moore and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott.
Racing will proceed on a trimmed 127-date calendar, designed to work in tandem with Virginia’s Colonial Downs racetrack, where many Maryland-based horsemen might run while Laurel is on break in July and August.