Old Hilltop. Open since 1870. Home of the Preakness Stakes since 1873 — and one of the oldest, most storied racetracks in the Western Hemisphere.
Pimlico Race Course earned the nickname "Old Hilltop" in the early 20th century because of a small hill in the infield that once offered spectators an elevated vantage point over the backstretch. The hill no longer exists — it was leveled during track modernization decades ago — but the name stuck. "Old Hilltop" is still used affectionately by racing fans who want to convey the history and character of the place.
The track is located in the Park Heights neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland — a residential area about five miles north of the city's Inner Harbor. Unlike Churchill Downs, which sits in an almost suburban Louisville setting, Pimlico is embedded in an urban neighborhood, giving it a different feel: more gritty, more city, more working-class in its surroundings compared to the grandeur of Kentucky Derby week.
Pimlico runs on a one-mile oval — the same size as Churchill Downs. However, the two tracks have meaningfully different shapes. Pimlico's turns are tighter and more sharply banked than Churchill Downs, which has sweeping, gradual curves. The result is a track that rewards horses that can handle tight corners and maintain their balance through the turns.
The first turn at Pimlico comes up relatively quickly after the start — only about 400 yards after the gate opens for the Preakness. This is why inside post positions are favored: a horse on the outside that gets caught wide coming to that early turn is immediately at a disadvantage, forced to run a longer path before even reaching the backstretch.
The homestretch at Pimlico is approximately 1,000 feet — shorter than the long Churchill Downs stretch of 1,234 feet. This matters for how the race finishes: late-charging closers have less room to run down leaders at Pimlico, and front-runners have a somewhat better chance of holding on in the final strides.
The Preakness Stakes is run on a dirt main track — the traditional American racing surface. Pimlico's dirt is different in composition and feel from Churchill Downs, and how horses handle the surface switch matters in two-week Triple Crown preparation.
Maryland weather in mid-May is unpredictable — warm and dry one year, cold and wet the next. The Preakness has been run on fast tracks and deep mud in its history. A sloppy or muddy track (rated "good" or "sloppy") can radically change the race dynamics — some horses love the slop and run better in it; others hate the heavy surface and lose ground throughout the race. Justify's 2018 Preakness was run in a driving rainstorm on a sloppy track, a test of courage as much as talent.
Pimlico also has a turf course inside the main dirt oval, used for stakes races on the undercard. The Dixie Stakes — a major turf race on Preakness Day — often draws international horses, giving the day's card a global dimension beyond the Preakness itself.
The Pimlico infield has a reputation all its own — distinct from both the Derby infield at Churchill Downs and the more formal Belmont Park experience. Pimlico's infield has historically been more densely packed, louder, and less interested in the racing than any other Triple Crown venue. For many years, it was known for an anything-goes atmosphere that put off traditionalists but drew enormous crowds of younger fans who came for the festival and the atmosphere.
In recent years, the Maryland Jockey Club has transformed the infield into "Infield Fest" — a ticketed music festival event with live performances throughout Preakness Day. This has brought a more organized energy to the space while maintaining its reputation as the most spirited section of any Triple Crown racecourse. On a big Preakness Day, with a potential Triple Crown bid in progress, the infield becomes one of the loudest outdoor spaces in American sport.
For much of the 21st century, Pimlico Race Course was in a state of significant disrepair — aging infrastructure, a deteriorating grandstand, and questions about whether the track would survive as a viable racing venue. The state of Maryland and the Maryland Jockey Club engaged in a lengthy debate about whether to rebuild Pimlico or relocate the Preakness to Laurel Park (a more modern facility in the Baltimore-Washington corridor).
The debate was finally resolved with a commitment to rebuild Pimlico as a modern racing facility while preserving its historic footprint and character. The reconstruction project, funded by a combination of state investment and private financing, began in earnest and represents a significant commitment to keeping the Preakness in Baltimore permanently. For Preakness fans, the rebuilding means a more comfortable, modern experience while retaining the soul of Old Hilltop.
The only time Man o' War and a Triple Crown winner met on the track — a match race at Pimlico in 1920 drew an enormous crowd. Man o' War defeated Sir Barton by seven lengths, a performance so dominant that even many who had backed Sir Barton were left speechless. It was the defining sporting event in Baltimore until the Colts arrived decades later.
Secretariat's Preakness performance remains one of the great mysteries and achievements in racing history simultaneously. He won by 2&frac1;2 lengths, but the timing equipment malfunction meant the official time was disputed. Analysts who reviewed the race footage believe his actual time was 1:53.0 — which would be the fastest Preakness ever run. The record officially stands as 1:53.0 (shared with Tank's Prospect, 1985), though no one agrees on how it was set.
The middle chapter of the greatest rivalry in Triple Crown history. Affirmed and Alydar met at Pimlico for the second leg of their extraordinary 1978 battle, trading leads through the stretch before Affirmed held on by a neck. The photograph of the two horses at the wire captures the essence of what makes horse racing compelling at its highest level.
When American Pharoah crossed the Pimlico wire 7 lengths clear on Preakness Day 2015, the 100,000 people in attendance knew they were witnessing something special. The Triple Crown drought had lasted 37 years — and now it was within reach. The roar that went up at Pimlico that afternoon was captured by every broadcast camera, an expression of something horse racing had been waiting for since 1978. Three weeks later, Belmont delivered.
How the three Triple Crown venues compare.
Each Triple Crown venue demands something different from a horse. Churchill Downs' sweeping turns and long stretch reward horses that can handle traffic and close strongly over ground. Pimlico's tight turns and shorter stretch favor horses with natural speed and balance in corners. Belmont's enormous oval — a mile and a half of demanding ground — is a test of pure stamina that Churchill Downs and Pimlico do not fully prepare any horse to face. A true Triple Crown champion must be good enough to handle all three, back-to-back, in five weeks.