S8E38: Future of Pimlico, Preakness and Maryland with Bill Knauf

The Ron Flatter Racing Pod

This is the summer when old Pimlico is scheduled to be torn down with a new racecourse grandstand being built in time for Preakness 2027. How will that concept become a reality?

On this week’s Ron Flatter Racing Pod, new Maryland Jockey Club president and general manager Bill Knauf gets into the details as the episode’s sole guest.

Knauf discusses his more than quarter-century at Monmouth Park, where he worked hand in hand with a management team which brought sports betting and fixed-odds wagering to the Jersey Shore racetrack.

The move of the Preakness to Laurel Park in 2026 and whether the new Pimlico will be ready in time for the 2027 renewal also comes up. The conversation covers how the new Pimlico may look and when plans may be finalized for the rebuilding of the Baltimore racetrack. Knauf offers thoughts about whether the $400 million budgeted for the project will be enough to cover the cost.

Knauf also talks about the future of racing in the mid-Atlantic region, especially the relationship the new Maryland Jockey Club will have with its neighbors in Virginia.

Of course any discussion of Pimlico will lead to thoughts about the spacing of the three Triple Crown races and whether it should be changed.

The Ron Flatter Racing Pod via Horse Racing Nation is available via free subscription from Apple, Firefox, iHeart and Spotify as well as HorseRacingNation.com.