Pimlico's new Preakness alcohol policy

They'll need two things: a couple of tractor trailers to dump all the bodies they find passed out, and a small militia to restore order when all the drunks who can't get a refill fast enough start to relieve themselves while standing in line.



Pimlico to offer all-you-can-drink at Preakness


By Matt Hegarty

Patrons in the infield at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore on Preakness Stakes Day on May 15 will be able to receive unlimited refills of beer for $20, according to the racetrack.

The new policy is designed to placate critics of a ban implemented last year on bringing any beverages into the infield. In 2009, the first year of the ban, attendance at the Preakness dropped by 34,000 people, from more than 101,000 to 77,850, a 30.6 percent drop.

Although infield customers will continue to be prohibited from bringing any drinks into the track, patrons will be allowed to buy a 16-ounce mug in the infield that can be filled an unlimited number of times. In addition, Pimlico said that a beer garden in the infield will offer $1 12-ounce beers from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Admission to the infield this year will cost $40 in advance, and $50 on the day of the Preakness, Pimlico said. Last year, infield admission was $50 regardless of when the ticket was purchased.

Aside from cheap beer, entertainment in the infield - where horse racing is at best a secondary distraction - will include concerts by the Zac Brown Band and O.A.R. There will also be a cornhole tournament among local bars, a bikini contest, a professional women's beach volleyball doubles tournament, and a scavenger hunt, Pimlico said.

 

So heaven has moved from Iowa to Baltimore.

But what the hell is a cornhole tournament?

 

Wow. Genius.

 

A colleague of mine just got back from a week's cruise in the Caribbean. Was there with his wife and two year old son. He said there were at least a couple of hundred American college students on the ship. For $30.00 a day you could buy an "All the Beer You Can Drink" bracelet.

 

Cornhole is a regional term. Some just call it beanbag toss.

 

Book it, now . . . the lines for beer will be beyond insane. Pimlico management will
claim they were unprepared for the rush.

B.

S.

 

Didn't someone run on to the Pimlico track during one of the support races for the Preakness a few years ago?

They might want to arm the jockeys.

 

Thank you. I actually was serious. I'm just shocked no one has posted a picture of Beavis yet.

 

I'm going to Vegas in May. Can't wait for Sunday night at the Rio. $60 for cover into the rooftop bar and all you can drink domestic beer, and calls.

 

I was there. Had a great view.

Eleven years ago . . . Jorge Chavez, aboard Artax . . . guy came out of the infield, ran across the turf course and onto the main . . .

The drunk scene at Pimlico that day is a disgrace . . . lotta college kids pretending to be men.

 

It's a reverse glory-hole.