Dave Rodman remembers being nervous. It was 1991, he was new to his job as the track announcer at Maryland's Laurel Park and 13 horses lined up for the $750,000 Budweiser Washington, D.C., International-G1.
"It seemed like that race, all the races that day, had more importance," Rodman said of Laurel's Turf Festival built around the historic International. "Leariva and Edgar Prado won. That was a little taste of what it was like for me."
And for anyone else fortunate enough to be there.
Sent off at 44-1, Leariva rallied from last with a quarter-mile to go to win by 13⁄4 lengths and lead an all-French trifecta with Sillery and Goofalik. Four of the best jockeys of all-time, Angel Cordero Jr., Laffit Pincay Jr., Chris McCarron and Mike Smith, rode in the race. Hall of Fame trainers Richard Mandella and Charlie Whittingham sent horses from California. Irish Two Thousand Guineas winner Fourstars Allstar was part of the field.
Created in 1952 by John Schapiro, the International changed Thoroughbred racing and put Laurel on the worldwide racing map for more than four decades. But three years after that 1991 running, the race was mothballed -- a victim of the Breeders' Cup, changing schedules, Maryland's racing fortunes and the availability of other major opportunities around the world.
And Laurel really hasn't been the same since. The track is still building on a history that began in 1911, and has hosted plenty of important races, horses and horse people, but the place never again held that kind of national attention.
Until the third Saturday in May 2026.
The old track gets another day in the sun when it hosts the Preakness Stakes-G1 and the accompanying major racing that week while the more well-known Pimlico Race Course gets rebuilt in Baltimore.
Laurel is as ready as it can be and -- between the rails of its 11⁄8-mile dirt oval and ultra-wide, 1-mile turf course -- might be better suited to the demands of Preakness Week racing than Pimlico.
"It's a big, beautiful turf course and dirt track and that's a big change from what Pimlico physically looks like," said trainer Tim Keefe, a Laurel regular and member of The Maryland Jockey Club board of directors.
"Maybe some of the people who have never seen it will be impressed. Racing-wise it's better than ever. I'm excited about that part."
Keefe, more pragmatic about it than most, understands there are reasons to not be so excited about the 2026 Preakness. Start with an attendance cap of 4,800 spectators. Not long ago, Pimlico hosted 20 times that many for a Preakness. Throw in tradition. Stir up the odd arrangement of the MJC's former owner 1/ST Racing managing the event one final time. Add a disconnect with Baltimore as a host city.
"There's been a lot of negativity about the attendance, but that's the reality of it," Keefe said of a limit imposed by parking numbers, seating capacity, emergency access and so on. "There's nothing we can do about it. Laurel's not set up to host that many people. It's not the track's fault. Our biggest day lately has been Maryland Million Day. This can feel a little bit like that."
First-time visitors lucky enough to have a runner or get a ticket, especially those whose Maryland racing experience stopped at Pimlico, might be impressed. The facility doesn't have Pimlico's space for people, cars, concerts and hoopla, but also dodges some of Pimlico's pitfalls with updated bars, new restaurant spaces, modern video boards and comfortable box seating areas. There will be no infield tents to block views. The historic paddock building suggests a railroad roundhouse with, in comparison to Pimlico, loads of room and no glass-fishbowl-feeling for horses.
"Inside the building is great; there isn't a lot of space, but what's there is great," said trainer Linda Gaudet. "People will be surprised by that. It's not Pimlico."
No, it's not. Laurel has gone through plenty in its path to playing Preakness host for a year (2027 is supposed to return to a not-quite-finished Pimlico).
Owners since the beginning have included the Four County Fair, New York grocery magnate James Butler, Pimlico owner the Maryland Jockey Club, Baltimore businessman Morris Schapiro (John's father), Frank De Francis and partners Bob and Tommy Manfuso, Joe De Francis and Washington Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke (who wanted to build a new stadium), Frank Stronach's Magna Entertainment and its successors MI Developments (briefly in partnership with Penn National Gaming), The Stronach Group and 1/ST Racing. In 2024, the state of Maryland brokered a deal to transfer ownership of Laurel and Pimlico to a new version of the Maryland Jockey Club operating as a non-profit. A new MJC took over everyday racing management Jan. 1, 2025, but 1/ST steered the Preakness ship last year and does so again this year.
In the early 1900s, the Laurel facility included a large grandstand and Victorian style clubhouse. The building there now, fully enclosed with no outdoor seating except benches on the apron, was part of a 1950s rebuild. Since then, it's been remodeled -- over and over -- by various owners while also getting downsized in terms of spectator capacity. In 1959, the dirt track was expanded from a mile to its current distance (officially 1 mile, 600 feet). A chute allows for one-turn races up to a mile, to a second finish line. In 2004 and 2005, the tracks were widened and raised to alleviate problems with flooding from the nearby Patuxent River.
"The tracks are as good as any, the turf is terrific," said Gaudet. "I was surprised comparing Laurel to other tracks. It's a huge, wide track -- a mile-and-an-eighth around, very wide, it accommodates horses training. The turf is world-class."
At several points in that twisted-as-an-old-country-road history (as long ago as 1947, as recently as perhaps last month), Laurel was considered as a potential "home" for Maryland's Thoroughbred racing -- replacing Pimlico as the flagship track. Under the original restructuring enacted in 2025, Laurel was briefly slated for demolition and development, but is now pegged to become a training center while racing takes place at a reconstructed Pimlico. A future with at least some racing isn't out of the question.
Hosting the 2026 Preakness is another chapter in the track's history book, an honor the place deserves.
"Forget about the numbers or the circumstances," Keefe said. "The track is a worthy host to racing at this level, 100 percent."
Georganne Hale, the MJC's senior vice president of racing development, agreed and stood up for the place.
"It's a nice track," she said. "I remember when we had the International here. That was so much fun and definitely put Laurel on the map. We don't have the room, don't have the parking to host a big crowd, but that's OK. That's what we're dealing with."
Hale's first trip to Laurel came in the 1970s, when she galloped for trainer Katy Voss while going to college to pursue a nursing career. Hospitals weren't for her, and she's been an employee of the Maryland Jockey Club (through multiple owners) for more than 40 years. Pimlico, demolished after the 2025 Preakness, probably felt more like home but Laurel's charms matter too.
"The paddock is historic, unique for sure," she said. "The turf course is great and it's a nice, wide dirt course. Inside the building where they've fixed it up is very, very nice where Pimlico had aged a little bit. People who haven't been here will find that surprising."
As always, there's a little more. Hale said that people shouldn't miss a visit with a life-sized statue of Billy Barton near the clubhouse entrance. The bronze honors a horse whose racing career included a 2-year-old championship in Cuba in 1920, and major wins there in 1921 and 1922. Reimported, the Kentucky-bred was ruled off by the stewards at Pimlico for bad behavior, but found new life after being sold to Howard Bruce as a potential foxhunter. Bruce, who owned the nearby Belmont Manor estate in Howard County, turned Billy Barton into a steeplechaser and in 1926 he won the Maryland Hunt Cup and Virginia Gold Cup -- still the only horse to win both 4-mile races (held a week apart) in the same year. His timber exploits also included wins in the Pennsylvania and New Jersey Hunt Cups.
Billy Barton went on to more glory in England, where he entered the 1928 English Grand National at Aintree. He led most of the race, only to fall at the last fence. His jockey remounted, but Billy Barton settled for second. He tried again in 1929, when he made the cover of Time magazine beforehand, but didn't place. In retirement, he became Bruce's hunter with the Elkridge Foxhounds. He died in 1951 at age 33 and was buried at Belmont Manor -- standing and in full tack. In tribute, sculptor Henri Brenner (working in a makeshift studio on the second floor of the Laurel clubhouse) created a plaster model which was cast in bronze and installed in time for Laurel's 1952 spring meeting. Once banned from flat tracks, Billy Barton stands outside of one to this day and might get a blanket of black-eyed Susans come Preakness time.
Hale went out of her way to mention Laurel's status as a something of an unofficial wildlife sanctuary, too. Keep an eye out for the resident bald eagle, foxes and the snapping turtles who apparently enjoy early mornings on the dirt track before heading back to the infield pond or the banks of the Patuxent.
Like Hale, Rodman sees the realities behind the decision to move the Preakness to Laurel. He'll miss a few things -- the access to the horses in the frontside barns at Pimlico for one -- but will also welcome some of the differences.
"The start of the Preakness is going to be a lot easier to call, not that any of them are that easy because you're looking for subtleties like a horse who stumbles, gets squeezed back or gets left a little bit," he said. "At Pimlico, they're way, way down at the end of the stretch. At Laurel, the start is pretty close. That takes away some of the stress on me anyway."
Like spectators or television viewers, Rodman will appreciate the lack of tents in the infield to obstruct the view. His familiarity with Laurel also comes with a caveat or two.
"The sun sets toward the first turn, which is a little different if it's a very sunny day," he said. "At Pimlico the sun would set behind the building and cast a long shadow across the track. The jockeys better have their sun goggles on."
Rodman has seen thousands of races at Laurel, and called the track fair to all horses -- no matter the running style. Post position matters, somewhat, in 11⁄16-mile dirt races but shouldn't impact the Preakness trip of 13/16 miles. Saving grounds matters on the turf course, but hard-charging stretch runners have more ground to work with than they do at Pimlico. Like any racing enthusiast, the announcer loves Maryland's role in the Triple Crown and appreciates the opportunity host top-level racing. Fans should welcome it too.
"Fans will find it's more intimate and closer to the horses than they would expect," Rodman said. "The Preakness at Pimlico for the racing fan from almost any seat you were obstructed by tents and things in the infield over the years. Anyone with a ticket will enjoy a clear view and a nice day of racing."
Like the one Leariva was part of.
