Horse racing

With rain in the forecast and a group of “new shooters” in the starting gate, a victory for Kentucky Derby champion Mystik Dan is not a gurantee.

The Stronach Group’s investment in high-wattage entertainment to attract younger fans and bigger purses to lure the best thoroughbreds hasn’t paid off, with Preakness losing millions of dollars each of the past two years.

The Good Magic colt had a temperature of 103.

A few legal steps and signatures remain before the Stronach Group officials turn over ownership of the historic Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore to the state government. The company’s CEO said she’s glad the deal is moving forward.

The state has committed to rebuilding Pimlico — and revitalizing the surrounding neighborhood. Both have waited too long.

After initially expressing reservations about running his colt back on such short rest, trainer Kenny McPeek saw positive results in training and at the feed tub, and decided to give Mystik Dan a shot at Pimlico Race Course.

The Baltimore Banner has embeded with Maryland-based trainer H. Graham Motion as he prepares for the state’s most important race days.

Trainer Kenny McPeek announced the decision to send the horse to Baltimore for the second leg of the Triple Crown next Saturday.

The third Saturday in May at Old Hilltop is worth experiencing at least once if you’ve never been. Here’s a guide on where to sit and how to get to the track, with some tips for the best way to experience this historic event.

Ahead of the 149th Preakness Stakes, state officials are preparing take ownership of Pimlico Race Course, renovate it and run races there — an ambitious plan to revive the thoroughbred horse racing industry.

The colt scarfed down his meal. “I’m big on that. I always believe the faster they eat, the faster they run,” Kenny McPeek said.

“We’re not committed to the Preakness, not yet,” Derby-winning trainer Kenny McPeek said.

The second leg of horse racing's Triple Crown is May 18 at Pimlico.

Legendary Maryland trainer Graham Motion explains how he makes decisions about when his horses are ready to run — and what race they should enter.

In an effort to better understand a trainer’s thought process, The Baltimore Banner will follow H. Graham Motion as he trains a horse for a race happening sometime during the two days of Preakness and the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes.

Other performers include DJ and musician Gryffin, rapper Channel Tres, electronic musician and DJ Frank Walker, and DJ Chantel Jeffries

A source said Churchill has been lobbying to derail a bill in the state legislature that’s necessary for the state ownership deal to go through.

The plan for Maryland’s state government to take over ownership of Baltimore’s historic Pimlico Race Course cleared its first hurdle in Annapolis on Wednesday.

If the deal is approved, the nonprofit that will operate racing will adopt the name of the Maryland Jockey Club, the organization that’s been associated with thoroughbred racing in the state since the 1700s.

Maryland officials and The Stronach Group have agreed to a plan that would transfer Pimlico Race Course to the state, which would build a new racetrack at the historic Northwest Baltimore site and create a nonprofit to run day-to-day horse racing operations.