When the Kentucky Derby winner leaves Pimlico after the third Saturday in May with its status as a Triple Crown contender still intact, that ensures at least three more weeks of mainstream attention on a horse racing community that doesn't get much time in the spotlight.
Though their portion of the Triple Crown is done, Maryland racing officials and horsemen still have a stake in the outcome.
What happens three weeks after Preakness, they say, could help bring new fans to the track.
"I think any time that we see a Triple Crown contender, it kind of spikes the appetite for horse racing in general — not just for Baltimore but all over," said Tim Ritvo, COO of racing for the Stronach Group, which owns Pimlico and Laurel Park. "We know the Derby and the Preakness do good things for racing by all the simulcast sites. People show up all around the country. Now with another contender on the line, I think it would be fantastic for the sport."
This Triple Crown season already has been for the host tracks. Churchill Downs saw a record crowd of 170,513 for the Derby, and a record 131,680 were at Pimlico for Preakness.
Ritvo, a longtime horseman who oversees all of the Stronach Group's tracks including Florida's Gulfstream Park and Saratoga Race Course in New York, has seen the Triple Crown races impact other tracks across the country over the years. Belmont with a Triple Crown contender has a much bigger influence on other tracks' attendance that day than one without, he said.
Thirteen horses have left Pimlico with victories in the first two Triple Crown races since Affirmed won all three in 1978. A dozen failed in the Belmont, and one — I'll Have Another in 2012 — did not run because of an injury.
As such, he has seen "business increases every year there's a Triple Crown contender," with more crowds through the doors on those days and, potentially, a lifelong memory of seeing the challenge completed.
The idea of a Triple Crown aspirant helping the sport across the country isn't a new one, but the conversation about a preferred outcome of the Belmont has, Ritvo said.
"We thought about, is it better for the mystique to go on or is it better to finally happen?" Ritvo said. "We've seen the mystique go on … but I think it's time. If we get a Triple Crown winner, I think it'll help.
"I think we've all had the experience of them not finishing the job, and we haven't seen that big jump in business after that. Maybe it's time to see one get done, and see if we can play off of that and hopefully continue to watch the horse run and campaign a Triple Crown winner. There's a whole one or two generations that have never seen that."
An American Pharoah victory Saturday would provide those who go to the track to watch on simulcast with a memory that could create new fans, Ritvo said.
"I think you're going to have a lot of interest, including attendance at the racetracks," said Mike Hopkins, executive director of the Maryland Racing Commission. "It certainly is a marketing tool for them, and it's a pretty big event. There's going to be a lot of people that want to show up to see it."
The outcome, to Hopkins, doesn't much matter.
"Horse racing revives itself every year," he said. "There's always interest, there's always renewed hope, there's always a new possibility for the Triple Crown every year. That hasn't waned."
Jose Corrales, a Maryland-based trainer who ran Bodhisattva to an eighth-place finish in the Preakness, said he can tell on race days in Maryland when big races like the Belmont are being run elsewhere.
"When there are big races, every racetrack gets together," Corrales said. "The crowd comes, you see the parking lot is full. Everybody is rooting for something."
The important part for Maryland racing isn't whether the Bob Baffert-trained colt can make history Saturday; it's that he left Baltimore with a chance to do so.
That American Pharoah left Pimlico with a signature moment like his gallop through the rain and mud last month will only solidify Maryland's spot in this edition of Triple Crown history.
"Spectacular horses do spectacular things, and they overcome," Ritvo said. "This Triple Crown thing is a very special and unique event. For a horse to win all three, you overcome all kinds of adverse effects. It'd be gratifying to see a horse accomplish it to have a little part of that history that Baltimore owns, and the Preakness especially."
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