Seen at Preakness

Editor's Note: TDN Advertising Assistant and Maryland native August Pons attended the GI Preakness S. Saturday to provide us with a young fan's insight on the day's activities as experienced from the Pimlico infield.

The first thing horse racing layman and longtime friend Nick Martinez sees when he steps out of the car in the parking lot at Pimlico is a puddle, the first of many. Today, he will see hoof-print puddles on the racetrack. In puddles on the pavement, he will see losing tickets float like lily pads, bleeding fresh ink. Mud puddles dot the infield, but Nick has seen the forecast and is well prepared, rubber boots and poncho in tow.

In the tunnel leading to the infield, Nick sees a young girl on her way out. She has thrown in the towel, stumbling upstream in a hiccupping drunk gait. The click-clack of her mud-caked high-heels bounces off the concrete walls. The first race has just gone off.

Looking at a map of the infield, Nick orients himself. He sees betting windows here, beer tents there, port-a-pots way over there. I point at a spot on the map: “You see this, Nick? If we get separated in all this organized chaos, lets meet back up right here.” He nods in agreement, and splashes off to catch the next race.

Standing along the rail at the top of the homestretch, Nick sees a horse being led back around the starting gate after breaking out prematurely. Shortly after, he sees this same horse take a fatal misstep. Someone from behind asks to no one in particular, “Does that happen often?” A brief history lesson for Nick touches upon notable low-lights of the past. On the track, a heavy green curtain is raised behind an ambulance so that he can see no more.

Later, having snuck up to the grandstand for the big race, Nick sees the infield from above. He doesn't know it at the time, but the crowd he is a part of is the largest in Preakness history. The money he gambles adds to a record handle. Another record Nick sees? The fastest opening quarter mile in Preakness history. Betting interests forgotten, as Exaggerator turns on the jets in the homestretch, Nick is jumping up and down, fists in the air, shouting “Are you seeing this?!” On his victory parade in front of the crowd, Nick sees that the winning horse is soaking wet and covered in mud, just like the rest of us.

His day now finished, Nick makes his way out of the track. He has seen it all today, the entire spectrum of horse racing highs and lows. To Pimlico, the Preakness, and to the infield he says: “see you next year.”