From today’s b, the paper

Today is a semiformal holiday in the state of Kentucky, and the city of Louisville all but shuts down.

Of course, you wouldn’t know it here in Baltimore two weeks before the Preakness, but today is Kentucky Oaks Day in the Bluegrass State. In anticipation of the 134th Kentucky Derby tomorrow, they shut the place down and throw a big party celebrating life and horse racing.

After visiting Louisville seven times over the past 12 years for Derby weekend, I only wish Baltimore would’ve studied the Kentucky model and maintained the luster the Preakness once carried in our community.

The Oaks is the biggest race of the year for the female horses, and of course, the Derby is the biggie for the 3-year-old male horses. Today, the world’s largest cocktail party is held in the paddock area for the locals at Churchill Downs, and tomorrow the visiting celebrities, debutantes and beautiful people will have their own festivities inside the remodeled facility, while the infield will become a larger version of the debauchery we see here at Pimlico each May.

Believe it or not, the Triple Crown of horse racing (the final race is the Belmont Stakes in June in New York) used to be a big deal everywhere — even here in Baltimore, where the Preakness has been held for 133 years. But the local horsemen and the politicos representing Maryland can’t seem to get it right for anyone’s benefit, and more than two decades after horse racing as an industry began its rapid decline, the Preakness is in major jeopardy of becoming as extinct as the Baltimore Colts. When was the last time you went to the racetrack?
Two weeks from now, the winner of tomorrow’s race will come to Maryland with very little national fanfare, and even less interest across the metropolis of Baltimore, which has become numb to the race and rumors of its demise.

The Preakness — and more specifically the days leading up to the Preakness — should be a big deal for Charm City, the way I’ve seen it celebrated in Kentucky. At one point not too long ago, it was considered Baltimore’s Super Bowl, an annual event that illuminated the city with festivals, traditions, celebrities, full restaurants and hotels. It was a spectacular bragging point for the city.

Now, unfortunately, under the watchful green eyes of the Magna Corp. that owns the Maryland Jockey Club and the grossly deteriorating Preakness traditions and Pimlico conditions, the race is on life support. What a shame!

But the combination of slots and horses is making plenty of “cha-ching” noise in Delaware, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, while the best horses, horsemen, jockeys and ideas seem to be forever gone “across the state line” from Maryland.

But that does not tarnish what the Kentucky Derby is all about.

If you want a real sports and civic treat, tune into the TV coverage tomorrow and see the stories before the race and enjoy the majesty and grandeur of a Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday of May. The “run for the roses” is my favorite annual, one-day sporting event.

And imagine if someone here in Baltimore had an inkling of foresight or creativity into what could be the greatest weekend of the year for Marylanders, the way it is in Kentucky. Will this be Maryland’s final Preakness, two weeks from tomorrow? Only the folks at Magna know for sure.

Nestor Aparicio is the owner WNST-AM 1570. His column appears Mondays and Fridays. For more, go to wnst.net.

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