2023 Preakness changes aim to boost attendance, unite music and horse fans

Cue the spotlights.

For the first time in the 15 years that concerts featuring nationally known performers have been a staple of the Preakness Stakes, the headliner won’t take the stage until after the winning racehorse has crossed the finish line Saturday evening.

That’s just one of the changes that organizers hope will boost attendance and bring together different audiences at the middle jewel of horse racing’s Triple Crown, which has been an annual tradition in Baltimore for 148 years.

Since 2009, when blockbuster musical acts were added to the festivities for the first time, the daylong celebration at the Pimlico Race Course has attracted two different audiences: horse racing fans for whom concerts, food vendors and people rolling in the infield mud was utterly incidental to the business at hand, and concertgoers, who at times seemed only vaguely aware that there were horses running around a track.

“It felt like there were two different festivals happening in the same place and at the same time,” said Tiffani Steer, vice president of communications at 1/ST, which is part of The Stronach Group, the entertainment, gambling technology and real estate development company that owns Pimlico.

“The infield is a very large space and we’re trying to create a much more connected experience between the entertainment fan and the racing fan,” she said.

Steer’s team is betting that moving this year’s main concert featuring Bruno Mars to the evening and creating a full day of entertainment will help lure back the tens of thousands of visitors who have been slow to return to Old Hilltop since the coronavirus pandemic.

In 2019, an audience of 131,256 watched a dark bay colt named War of Will win the Preakness by 1-1/4 lengths. Last year, race day attendance was estimated at a dismal 60,000 fans when Early Voting took home the trophy, or less than half of the pre-pandemic totals.

“We think these changes will have an impact,” Steer said. “Entertainment doesn’t get much bigger than Bruno Mars.”

[ https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/horse-racing/bs-sp-preakness-2023-what-to-know-20230516-3z2cjtbxgfg6th2ck6r4omtnr4-story.html ]

From 2009 to 2021, all the Preakness concerts were held on race day. But the way the event was structured, with the headliner taking the stage just before the marquee race, meant that guests who had purchased more costly tickets essentially had to choose between attending the concert and the sporting event.

“People in the grandstands,” Steer said, “couldn’t access the concert in any meaningful way.”

Race horses in peak physical condition can gallop from the Pimlico starting gate to the finish line in just under two minutes. But two-legged humans who want to hang out in the infield until the end of the headline concert and then make their way back to their seats in the grandstands, which provide a superior view of the track, need a lot more time.

So festival organizers decided to switch things up last year, when Lauryn Hill and Megan Thee Stallion signed up to headline the 2022 Preakness.

Their concerts became part of Preakness Live, a new celebration held at Pimlico the Friday before the big race, when the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes for 3-year-old fillies traditionally occurs. Preakness Live aimed to bridge the chasm between the racetrack and the city in which it is located by showcasing the talents of Baltimore musicians, artists and chefs alongside national headliners. This year’s festival will offer several of last year’s innovations, including pop-up restaurants featuring Baltimore-area eateries and the infield art garden spotlighting artworks created on shipping containers by local artists.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, a major advocate for Preakness Live, told The Baltimore Sun last year that when he was growing up in Park Heights, the annual race left many Black residents feeling disenfranchised.

[ Baltimore stylists on what to wear to Pimlico to turn heads on race day ]

“It was held in Northwest Baltimore,” Scott wrote in a guest commentary, “but it wasn’t held with Northwest Baltimore.”

But scheduling the big concert the night before the big race just ended up splitting the audience.

“Last year was our inaugural year,” Steer said. “We went into it with an open mind and treated it like a test case. This year, we thought we should combine the greatest musical performance with the greatest racing, and have the headline concert cap off Preakness Day.”

In addition to Mars, other musical entertainment this year includes the house stylings of the musical duo Sofi Tukker; Martin 2 Smoove, billed as “London’s hottest deejay”; Chantel Jeffries aka “Ceejay the Deejay”; and hometown favorite DJ QuickSilva.

Once the Preakness trophy has been awarded and the horses have left the track, Steer said, tunnels below the track will be opened and the grandstand guests will be invited to make their way to the infield for the Bruno Mars concert.

The schedule change also potentially represents a savings of $24 or more for ticket buyers; last year, the cost to attend the Friday concert and Saturday race started at $114 and went up; this year, general admission tickets providing access to both events begin at $90. (Prices go up Wednesday.)

Mars is expected to begin his roughly hourlong performance at 8 p.m., about 15 minutes before sunset. Steer said this will push back guests’ departure time by about two hours from previous years, to about 9:30 p.m.

That gives thirsty fans two extra hours to imbibe, and by the time they leave the racecourse, it will be dark. But Steer said organizers are taking measures to combat drunken driving and other public safety risks.

“We’ve been working on our egress plan with the Baltimore Police Department,” Steer said. “We are bringing in extra lights, and the pick-up points for [the ride-sharing services] Uber and Lyft and for shuttles to the parking lots are very clearly marked.”

The Baltimore Police Department doesn’t generally make public details about its security plans, but Amanda Krotki, a department spokesperson, wrote in an email: “BPD officers will be deployed in and around the event perimeter throughout the day. And as always, we strongly urge everyone not to drive impaired. We recommend attendees opt for public transportation or ride-share apps.”

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Other changes before and during the big race also are aimed at getting race fans more involved in the concerts, and concert fans more involved in the race.

This year, Steer said, the stage is moving from its former location in the center of the infield to the north end near the home stretch, to be closer to what is usually the most exciting part of any horse race.

Historically, it’s been difficult for most fans in the infield to watch the race, because the ground is level and their view has been obscured by tents and up to 30,000 fans.

“We think this will give much greater visibility of the race,” Steer said. “There also will be Jumbotrons and big screens everywhere. Everyone should be able to see the final turn onto the home stretch.”

And for the first time, there will be human “betting ambassadors” in the wagering tents aimed at demystifying the process for novices. Steer said the betting ambassadors will walk newcomers through the betting process, explain common racing terms such as “trifecta” and talk knowledgeably about the favorites and long shots and the odds that a specific horse will cross the finish line first.

“Even if you only bet $2 on a horse, it makes you feel more engaged in the race,” Steer said.

“We understand that there are concert fans who felt disconnected from the sporting events at Preakness, and sports fans who felt disconnected from the entertainment,” she said. “We’re hoping that the changes we’re making will create an improved experience for everyone.”