Pssst! You there, on the frayed blanket, with the floppy hat, the sunburned shoulders, the hot beer and cold hot dog . . . I see you gazing longingly across the infield toward the bandstand and the tops of the sheltering tents of Preakness Village, where high rollers, high society, and high and mighty captains of industry and finance sip and sup and play today. . . . Want to know what you're missing?

Savor this: Shucked oysters, beef tenderloin, Texas brisket, pan-roasted chicken with garlic, rosemary and white wine, pasta salad with fresh tomato basil sauce, savory baked cheese twists, roasted herbed Idaho and sweet potato wedges, crab cakes made from the still-secret recipe of the Old Pimlico Restaurant by a chef who worked there, marinated smoked turkey breast, Caesar salad, roast vegetables, wine, beer, mixed drinks, black-eyed Susans, lemonade, iced tea, espresso and cappuccino, Linzer torte cookies and brandy snaps, make-your-own berry shortcakes and do-it-yourself sundaes, plus afternoon tea, all freshly prepared and served by the Classic Catering People of Owings Mills.

And imagine the setting. The infield at Pimlico Race Course: Some 20-odd tents, all of them pristine white, sit in a graceful semicircle, with the bandstand closing the ring. Inside each tent, white chairs surround tables spread with festive cloths and sparkling with china and silver. Each tent is filled with flowers and floral decorations. Want something special to drink? The bartender will whip it up for you, ma'am, sir. Finished with your plate? Discreet servers will whisk it away. Finished with lunch? Step outside to mingle with other fellows of this festive circle, to place a little wager at the betting booths, or listen to the band, or watch other entertainers as they try to capture your attention. . . .

All of this is Corporate Preakness, a sort of Brigadoon of gracious living, a fantasy land where national and local companies play gracious host to their invited guests. Invitations may be eagerly sought; but the names of party-throwers and partygoers are strictly private.

As for the race -- what race? This is a party, a big, bountiful, once-a-year party.

"What makes the Preakness Village so special is the synergy of the people, the food, the setting," says Gail Kaplan, of the Classic Catering People.

"It's elegant entertaining out of doors," says Ansela Dopkin, another principal of the company.

Presentation is positively posh: silver platters and chafing dishes, good wood carving boards, glass bowls for salads -- and coffee is served from silver urns. "It's so pretty. . . . It's as if you were in a ballroom," Ms. Dopkin says.

The beauty belies the mountain of labor that goes into making sure the party is a success.

"The easy part is doing the food," says Edward Dopkin, Ms. Dopkin's son and the president of the company. "The hard part is the organization and timing."

This is the second year that Classic has handled food service for Preakness Village. "It's not the largest party we do," says Mr. Dopkin, who's expecting to feed more than 3,000 folks this year. But it's certainly among the more complicated, with each tent having its own decor, china, silver and menu, he says. The possibility of scarce electricity, the limits of portable cooking, the vagaries of the weather don't daunt them.

"Probably half the places we go don't have water or roofs," Ms. Kaplan says.

Classic will have three cook tents and a kitchen truck at the track for the event. The "last crossing" to take equipment across the track before Saturday's 119th running of the Preakness is at 7 p.m. Friday.

Tables are set up and linens set out on Friday. The bars are also set up early. In the kitchen truck are convection ovens, braising ,, pans, tilting skillets, fryers and steamers. By Saturday morning, the truck will be buzzing with more than a dozen people preparing food. By the time lunch rolls around, there will be some 250 people cooking, serving, supervising, cleaning up.

When it's all over, they will have used 14 cases of tenderloins, 750 pounds of crab meat, 1,000 pounds of ice, hundreds of gallons of iced tea, and a truckload each of beverages and bottled waters, not to mention 200 tablecloths and more than 2,500 white wooden chairs. And then it will be time to pack everything up.

Although Classic offers a wide variety of menus for Preakness Village -- including a cookout and an Italian theme, clients tend to select a fairly traditional range of items. This year, virtually every tent will have crab cakes. Tenderloin is also popular, as are marinated smoked turkey breast, pasta salad and Caesar salad (made without eggs, for safety reasons; eggs in the crab cakes are pasteurized).

And, while there may be a few similarities in the food items, each of the tents gets its own distinctive look. Clients are invited to choose linens and china; once they've picked a pattern, it disappears from the sample book, so subsequent selectors don't even see it. Among some schemes that have been chosen: black, hot pink, hunter green and mint green; black, purple, red, turquoise and orange; red and white; bright yellow and burgundy; and solid hunter green. "They're all bright," Ms. Kaplan says.

Flowers, too, are tailored to each color scheme and come in diverse containers -- wood, wicker and baskets, among other things. "But no pedestals -- because they blow over." (Avoiding things that fall or blow over is a big part of planning. While china and silver are used on the tables and in serving, all of the glasses are heavy plastic.)

When everything is in place and the crowds step in, the place becomes a magic circle. "It's a festive village," Ms. Kaplan says. "And people dress for it -- men wear jackets and ties, women wear hats, so it's a beautiful-looking crowd."

Now I hear you sighing. Still say your connections couldn't get you into the grandstand at a dog track in Arkansas?

There's no reason you can't have your own elegant Preakness party at home. Card tables covered with pretty sheets or yard goods -- you can even make each one different -- make any backyard or patio a festive spot. Use your best serving platters, even if you do use paper plates. (Even paper plates come in a wide array of patterns and colors these days.) If possible, set up a portable TV to watch the race (a lot of people at the track will have a worse view). Enlist your own children or hire neighborhood teens to help serve and clean up. Encourage guests to dress up -- including hats. Serve them some of the same dishes the caterers will be offering at Preakness Village. And say a little prayer of thanks that you don't have to battle the traffic to get home.

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Here are recipes for three of the dishes that will be served at Preakness Village this year.

The first recipe, for marinated, grilled turkey breast, is a favorite at the Classic Catering People. Allow 1/2 to 3/4 of a pound of turkey per person, depending on how many other things you are serving. Make a marinade of honey, ground cloves, smashed fresh or ground dried ginger and olive oil with a sprinkle of red or white wine (or red or white wine vinegar), to taste. Use enough oil to brush all over the turkey. Marinate in refrigerator, basting or turning frequently, for four hours, or up to 24 hours. If you have a smoker, follow directions for cooking. Or grill in a covered grill according to directions; you can add mesquite or hickory woods chips to the charcoal. Don't under-cook the turkey; it should be done clear through. Return leftovers to the refrigerator at once. (You can bring it back out for seconds.)

It's hard to go wrong with a marinade. If you don't like ginger or cloves, substitute garlic and rosemary, or garlic and snipped fresh chives, or whatever suits you.

Classic did extensive research to choose a new poultry recipe, and this is the one they liked. It's from "The Classic Italian Cookbook," by Marcella Hazan.

Pan-roasted chicken with garlic, rosemary and wine

Serves four

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 to 3 cloves garlic, peeled

1 frying chicken (2 1/2 pounds), washed in cold water, quartered, and thoroughly dried in a towel

1 small bunch fresh rosemary, cut in two, or 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves

salt

freshly ground pepper, about 6 twists of pepper mill

1/2 cup dry white wine

Heat the butter and oil in a deep skillet or saute pan over medium-high heat. When the butter foam begins to subside, add the garlic and the chicken quarters, skin-side down. When the chicken is well-browned on one side, turn the pieces over and add the rosemary. If the garlic starts to blacken, remove it. If, however, it stays a golden brown, leave it in until the chicken is cooked. Control the heat so the cooking fat stays hot but doesn't burn.

When you have browned the chicken well on all sides, add a large pinch of salt, the pepper and the wine. Allow the wine to bubble rapidly for 2 to 3 minutes, then lower the heat until it is just simmering, and cover the pan. Cook slowly until the chicken is tender at the pricking of a fork. (A young fryer should take about 30 to 35 minutes.) Turn the chicken two or three times while cooking. (If you see that the cooking liquid has dried up, you can add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water as needed.)

Transfer the chicken to a warm serving platter, removing the garlic from the pan if you haven't done it earlier. Tilt the pan, drawing off all but 2 tablespoon of fat with a spoon. Return pan to high heat, adding 2 to 3 tablespoons of water, and scraping up juices in the pan. Pour these over the chicken and serve.

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The last recipe is from the Classic Catering People.

Pasta with fresh tomato-basil sauce

Serves four

1 pound radiatori or fusilli (tiny, corkscrew-shaped pasta)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons best-quality olive oil

2 cloves minced garlic

1/2 cup chopped yellow onion

4 ripe tomatoes, or 8 plum tomatoes, seeded and cubed

2 teaspoons dried oregano or 2 tablespoons fresh chopped basil

3/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon sugar

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes

fresh basil leaves (for garnish)

3 tablespoons freshly ground Parmesan cheese

Heat butter and oil over low heat; saute garlic and onion for 5 minutes.

Add all other ingredients, except pasta, and simmer, covered, for half an hour, stirring occasionally.

Cook pasta according to directions, drain, and toss with sauce.

Garnish with fresh basil leaves and serve with grated Parmesan.

BLACK-EYED SUSAN

This recipe for the official drink of the Preakness, the black-eyed Susan, is from the "Hunt to Harbor" cookbook, published by the Junior League of Baltimore Inc.

Serves 1

shaved ice

1 ounce vodka

1 ounce rum

3/4 ounce Triple Sec

lime wedge

pineapple juice

orange juice

Fill a 12-ounce glass with shaved ice. Add vodka, rum, Triple Sec. Squeeze in lime wedge and drop into glass. Fill with equal parts pineapple and orange juice.