Pimlico Race Track
5201 Park Heights Avenue Baltimore, MD 21215 Phone: (410) 542-9400 Website: www.pimlico.com
Racing Season: April - June
Notable Pimlico Racing Events
- G1 Preakness | 3-year-olds going 1-3/16 mi.
- G2 Black Eyed Susan | 3-year-olds fillies going 1-1/8 mi.
- G3 Pimlico Special | 3-year-olds & up going 1-3/16 mi.
- G3 Gallorette Handicap | 3-year-olds & up fillies & mares going 1-1/16 mi. on turf
Pimlico Race Track History
America's second oldest race track behind Saratoga, Pimlico Race Course opened in 1870. Built on 70 acres west of the Jones Falls, the name is derived from the name given to the area by Colonial settlers. Pimlico earned the nickname "Old Hilltop" because of a small hill in the infield that was a popular meeting place for people to watch the horse races, even though the hill was removed in 1938 to give movie and television cameras a clearer angle. Live racing has been conducted over the Baltimore oval since 1870 except for a break between 1889 and 1904 when racing was outlawed in the state, though the racecourse survived a 1910 anti-gambling movement that swept the country. Pimlico's signature race is the Preakness: the middle jewel of racing's Triple Crown.Pimlico Race Course: Track Specifications
The Pimlico backstretch houses 665 horses.- The main race track is a 1 mile oval with 6f and 1-1/4 chutes that is 70 feet wide and made of sandy loam. The stretch is 1,152 feet long.
- The turf racecourse is 7/8 of a mile with a 90% tall Fescue and 10% bluegrass composition with an aluminum inner rail.