Ponying up for the future of the Preakness

When the Preakness isn’t in Baltimore, only has 4,800 attendees and might not have the Kentucky Derby winner (again), it’s incumbent that we find the brightest and most veteran minds and industry observers to examine every aspect of what the hell is going on with the middle leg of the Triple Crown, which was once the annual Charm City Super Bowl and has lost its luster beyond recognition. Lifer horse racing insider and Baltimorean via Philly, Dick Jerardi returns for the 35th consecutive spring to give Nestor a full perspective on future of Preakness and Triple Crown and what’s at stake in the largest Stakes race in our state.

Nestor Aparicio and Dick Jerardi discuss the challenges and future of the Preakness Stakes. They highlight the decline in attendance and the impact of the Stronach Group’s management. Jerardi emphasizes the need for a new Pimlico facility and the importance of securing the Derby winner to revitalize the event. They also discuss the potential move of the race to Memorial Day weekend to attract more participants. Jerardi mentions ongoing discussions with TV partners and the need for new marketing strategies. Aparicio expresses frustration over the lack of interest and support from major sports figures and the state of Maryland.

• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Host the scheduled Maryland crab cake tour events at Koco’s Inn on April 23, Pizza John’s in Essex on May 1, Planet Fitness in Timonium on May 7, and back at Lexington Market during Preakness week.
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Plan and execute a Baltimore Positive show at Lexington Market on the Wednesday of Preakness week, aligned with the traditional crab races.
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Send the completed Preakness press credential form for David Richardson to David Joseph at Gulfstream.
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Call Bill Knopf to understand the new Preakness vision and explore having him appear on the Baltimore Positive show.
• [ ] Attend the Baltimore Positive show at Timonium OTB on York Road, likely joining later at Costas for food and conversation.

Maryland Crab Cake Tour and Preakness Week Events

• Nestor Aparicio discusses the Maryland crab cake tour, mentioning various events in Baltimore, including Koco’s on the 23rd, Pizza John’s in Essex on the 7th, and Planet Fitness in Timonium.
• Nestor talks about the Preakness crab races at Lexington Market, which have been a tradition for 50 years.
• Nestor mentions the involvement of Bill and Nancy, and the excitement around the new fishmonger’s daughter in Catonsville.
• Nestor introduces Dick Jerardi, a long-time friend and horse racing insider, and discusses their shared history with horse racing.

Horse Racing and Timonium

• Dick Jerardi reminisces about Timonium, referring to it as Maryland’s answer to Saratoga.
• Nestor and Dick discuss the current state of Timonium and the excitement of visiting the race track.
• Nestor mentions his involvement in the Maryland party in Las Vegas and the challenges of staying at the Circus Circus.
• Nestor talks about the logistics of getting credentials for the Preakness and the challenges of dealing with various organizations.

Challenges of Preakness Attendance and Venue

• Nestor and Dick discuss the limited attendance at Laurel due to the Preakness being held there.
• Nestor suggests moving the Preakness to a larger venue like the Frederick baseball stadium.
• Dick explains the challenges of Laurel’s capacity and the need for a new Pimlico.
• Nestor and Dick discuss the historical significance of Pimlico and the current efforts to build a new facility.

Marketing and Promotion of the Preakness

• Dick Jerardi talks about the need for new management to re-promote the Preakness.
• Nestor and Dick discuss the decline in attendance and the impact of the Stronach Group’s management.
• Dick mentions the potential TV partners for the Preakness and the importance of securing a strong broadcast deal.
• Nestor expresses frustration with the current state of horse racing and the lack of interest from major sports figures.

Historical Significance and Future of the Preakness

• Nestor and Dick reminisce about the historical significance of the Preakness and the impact of the Derby winner’s attendance.
• Dick explains the challenges of scheduling the Preakness and the need to move it to a different time to attract the Derby winner.
• Nestor discusses the changes in horse racing over the years and the impact on the Preakness.
• Dick emphasizes the importance of new management and ideas to revitalize the Preakness.

Personal Connections and Future Plans

• Nestor and Dick discuss their personal connections and shared history in horse racing.
• Nestor mentions his plans to visit various tracks and the importance of understanding the industry.
• Dick talks about his ongoing involvement in horse racing, including his TV show and writing for the website.
• Nestor and Dick plan to meet in person at Timonium and discuss their shared love for horse racing.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Preakness, horse racing, Maryland Jockey Club, Pimlico, Derby winner, TV contract, infield, Laurel Park, Stronach Group, new management, marketing, attendance, tradition, Triple Crown, state of Maryland.

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SPEAKERS

Nestor Aparicio, Dick Jerardi

Nestor Aparicio  00:01

Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T, am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are, Baltimore, positive, positively getting the Maryland crab cake tour out, and we are, I’m into it to win it. Here we’re into April, into May. The Orioles are playing Okay, at least for now, through the injuries, we have draft coming up. We have ravens rebranding going on. We also have schedule playing in Brazil. Rio have to work on my Samba. I’m going to do a piece here about and these are different horses I have my these are the acid tea courses. I thought that they were like thoroughbred, so I looked and I’m like, No, those are like the wild horses, I think, and it’s an homage, but the Maryland lottery is the Maryland treasures. There’s boardwalks, there are bridges, there are herons and creatures and crustaceans and things like that. I will have these next week at Koco’s on the 23rd on the first of May, will be a pizza John’s in Essex. On the seventh of May will be a planet fitness in Timonium. Then we’re going back to Lexington market. And this is how this guy got, like, trapped into this whole thing, because Alicia and Damian, they’re excited about opening the fishmonger’s daughter in Catonsville, and it will be open by Preakness week. But they’ve done the Preakness crab races at Lexington market on the Wednesday of Preakness week for like, 50 years. So Bill and Nancy were involved with that. I’m roped into it. I got Ivan Bates coming. If BJ surhoff comes, it becomes very competitive. I got to be honest with you, and he’s usually there, hopefully in a supervisory role, because you can’t beat him in the crab race. Dick Girardi has been my friend for 42 years decorated award winning, not just college basketball, writer and and broadcaster for Penn State, we are basketball, but long time insider and horse racing, if you do any research on me, him, Clem Florio Vinnie Peron, the buyer, speed number Pimlico Laurel, lovely Laurel, as the coach would say. And Bowie. You do know Girardi that they have built a cost this in Ben dog’s greatest brand. They built it right into the track. And Timonium right there off York row where the ponies run. And I go there once a week. I’m doing the show there, literally this week, at Koco’s Inn, at the race track, at the OTB, which I know warms the Rogers forge in your heart, I think, does it not dick?

Dick Jerardi  02:35

It does many a day at the York Road spa, as I referred to it back in the day, Maryland’s answer to Saratoga, but yeah, look, I love Timonium. It’s a very cool place that actually didn’t make it down for this meet. It’s a rare year I had not been down there for at least one day. Well, you’re gonna get a better

Nestor Aparicio  02:50

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crab cake when you do. I’m gonna tell

02:52

you right now I look forward to

Nestor Aparicio  02:54

don’t go there for the crabs. They gotta go to Dundalk, original location. I have crab cakes. No crabs, all right. Victor already is, um, I don’t know, Dick, like, I do this Maryland party out in Las Vegas that Howard Perlow throws, and Bill Cole is so magnanimous to invite me every year. It’s, really, it’s pretty Gucci for a kid from Dundalk from Colgate, you know. So I get invited, and I try to beg off this year because I don’t want to stay at the circus, circus. And, you know, I mean, like, so it is what it is, but it happens on Preakness weekend, and I got my credential form for David Richardson to send over to David Joseph at Gulfstream. And I don’t even know if, if the magma daughter, the Belinda woman that I’ve the socialite i, i the Hoff guy that from the from the other track. And I don’t know any of these people. None of them know me. The last time I dealt with the race track, I had some snotty 26 year old girl Come meet me in the lobby downtown. She was representing some marketing organization for the freakness, the Preakness, the, you know, the I don’t, I don’t even know. Like, they’re racing at Laurel and I’m bringing you on and you me and the ghost of Clem Florio, John Steadman and Charlie Eckman and everybody else. I don’t even know what the hell this is. Dude, like, I don’t know. And you’re up in Philly and you’re not coming, and I’m calling you and like, I’m just because everybody else will bullshit me if I bring them on and like, what is going on? Dude? Like, you know more than anybody what is going on. I mean, the chance of them even having the Derby winner becomes way slim we are. We’re a life support code red racing for 4500 people at Laurel. Dude, so

Dick Jerardi  04:39

it’s going to be very strange, right? There’s no infield. They’ve limited, I think the number is 4800 But your point is your point. They’ve limited the amount of tickets they’re going to sell, because Laurel just can’t handle the

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Nestor Aparicio  04:50

kind of crowd. Let’s have it at like the Frederick baseball stadium or something.

Dick Jerardi  04:54

4800 people, right? And look, I’ve been to Laurel. It’s just, it’s, it’s basically on its last legs. And. Is a race track, and they haven’t put much into the grandstand. They mostly the money they put in have been down in the lower levels, where it’s actually been very nice. They’ve done a good job with it over over time. I’ve never had a bad

Nestor Aparicio  05:11

day at Laurel, by the way. I mean, like, I’m not anti Laurel. I love, I loved horse racing. Dick. It’s how I’ve known you for 42 years, right? I’m one of the few people that love it, you know.

Dick Jerardi  05:22

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So Pimlico, the old Pimlico, has been torn down. They’re in the process now building a new Pimlico, whether it’s ready or not for 2027 is subject to debate at this point. I am being told, Nestor, that if it’s not totally ready, they’ll try to run it there anyway, with like tents and stuff like that. That’s what I that’s

Nestor Aparicio  05:41

what I that’s what it’s gonna become anyway. I mean, it’s not gonna look like Talladega dude. No, no, it’s,

Dick Jerardi  05:46

it’s gonna be a much smaller grandstand, and it’s gonna be mostly that anyway, the infield, obviously. And they’ll have to re promote it with the new owners. Now that the state entity now run is going to be running the Maryland Jockey Club, they’ll have to re promote the Preakness, because, let’s deal in reality. It’s just, I’ve been there the last few years, and it’s just lost a lot of its luster. There just haven’t been as many people coming because, for whatever reason, the strong group has just not promoted it like it once did. They brought

Nestor Aparicio  06:14

Bruno Mars in, and it didn’t work, dude, right?

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Dick Jerardi  06:17

Yeah, it just, it’s unfortunate, but that’s you got to deal with it. But I do think that new people that are involved building off in that crowd, I think they know what they’re doing.

Nestor Aparicio  06:27

I hope they do. I hope they come and sit and tell me and listen to me. Man, no offense, dude, you’re an effing journalist, and you’ve been at this five decades. I don’t I’m way past the point where with the Orioles I trust Mark fine, or Don rovac or Katie Griggs, to be honest with me, certainly where we are with Sashi brown and the moon guy and Chad Steele like, I don’t even know where to get the facts. I mean, the stadium authority and the people that oversee these events, they lie about how many people came and saw Messi like, Dude, you’re just lying about numbers at this point, making stuff up. And anybody who’s like, left doing this work to try to explain what’s going on here with the shell game of whatever they’re promising, whatever they’re delivering, and who’s accountable politically or not, Wes Moore down, who hasn’t been on my show since the day he was governor. So, like, I can’t, and I’m like, a black sheep Venezuelan because I just asked for like, I just come with the notebook, like you taught me, and I’m like that. Now, say that again, that tell me that again. And what did you tell me last year? Because I have it, because you came on the show. And now tell me where we are. Like, I don’t, what do they even want me to say about it? Dick? Do they even want me to say anything? Because, other than the crab races at Lexington market, which I’m excited to be a part of, and I’m going to do a show there that day, and I love Lexington market, like, I think to myself, I can’t even make a left turn on Northern Parkway and go up above Sinai because, like, it’s, it’s gone, right? Like, I haven’t been by and I don’t like, it’s sad dude for anybody our age. And I don’t, I look at and say, Who’s going to pick this up and who’s going to reinvent it, a bunch of corporate marketing people from Canada, right? Or that’s what it was, who’s the next group of people, and how are they going to reinvigorate the race if they can’t get the Derby winner? Yeah. I mean, there’s just so many fundamental issues here that speak to racing and the state and the mismanagement and whatever the casinos role and slots and all of that we’ve been through with the de Francis family 3040, years ago. I’m talking about, like, being really honest about where it is right now, with a guy like me, one of the few left people, me and Scott Wyckoff, I think, talk racing around like, like, and I don’t talk a lot of it, because there’s no demand for it. Nobody calls me and says, I want to put the jockey on and put the horse on and put the trainer on. Baffert’s been running the last couple years because of it. I mean, just the whole industry, I’m I’m ranting, dude, because I don’t have answers for any of this, and I haven’t met anybody on the streets of Baltimore that honestly cares. And that’s the worst

Dick Jerardi  09:13

part, yeah, look, it’s a problem, and what’s happened is it’s been neglected over a number of years, because I think the Stronach group knew they were leaving, and now the state entity is in charge, and let’s give them an opportunity to see what they can do. I mean, I talked to some people the last day I was there, Nestor was the day after last year’s Preakness, and it was kind of nostalgic for me, right? I’d spent the previous couple days just wandering around old Pimlico because I knew I was never going to be there again. Whatever it was that was going to rise was going to be completely different. So I think it’s up to us to see how the new people can do it doesn’t really matter what has happened. It now matters what is going to happen, and can this be resurrected? Can it be done correctly? They’re in discussion. Right now with a TV partner for the future NBC contract with the Preakness. This is the last year. So are they going to stay with NBC? Are they going to go with Fox? Are they going to which has the Belmont Stakes? Now the derby still on NBC, both of them are long term contracts. I believe the Belmont is on Fox through 2030 and the derby is on NBC through 2032 so the management is going to have to decide what they’re going to do with that. Are they going to actually move the race? And if, certainly, if Fox gets it, they’re going to want to move the race back to three weeks or four weeks or something, because Fox’s Belmont Stakes is not worth nearly what it would be without a potential triple crown. And if the Derby winner continues to bypass the freakness because it’s only two weeks, then that becomes an issue. So all those issues need to be ironed out to get a sense of where the race is going to be, and what is this new Pimlico going to look like? How are they going to market this? How are they going to get the fans back to the infield, all those things that have just been sort of left alone for the last couple of years. And it’s really unfortunate what’s happened. But again, there’s nothing we can do about what has happened. It’s all about what’s going to

Nestor Aparicio  11:12

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happen next. How much horse racing are you doing these days? I mean, I want to call you the Philadelphia Daily News guy. And you knew Stephen A back when he was Stephen A and we still got to get to the palestra I’m still on you about that we did get some cheesesteaks proper. Thank you. Appreciate that. You know, Godspeed Ching. So for me, You said correctly. I wrote this down because I am a journalist. You taught me, right. So did Mike Marlo and Bob noskart and Jack Gibbons, if they’re going to do this correctly, I don’t know anybody who knows more about this than you. Like you. Like you are the aorta of horse racing. You’re like what’s correctly?

Dick Jerardi  11:57

Well, first they got to find out who were the people that supported the Preakness all these years and bought tickets. Do they have? Does that does that exist? Does that group of people are those names? It’s a strong group sharing that with the new entity. That’s one. Secondly, who? What happened to all these young kids that came to the infield at the Preakness? Where are? Well, they came

Nestor Aparicio  12:21

on busses from Kutztown State. I mean, like I was out in the Preakness during all those years. I partook in in young fun. 40 years ago, I didn’t climb any scaffolding, but I got some stories that can’t be told on radio and won’t be told on radio, but there’s evidence. There’s lots of evidence.

Dick Jerardi  12:38

That’s one of the problems Nestor, because if they do move it back right to try to get the Derby winner, that gives them, it’s less likely than they get college kids, because college is over by that time, right? That was one of the cool things about the Preakness. It was right about the time that the second semester of colleges were letting out for the year. If it goes, say, Memorial Day weekend, that’s no longer, that’s no longer, whose idea was

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Nestor Aparicio  13:00

that, because that happened on your clock, that happened sometime from the late 70s. It went from sort of Baltimore redneck festival to 80s college spring break. I was a part of that with Ali Shiba, and, you know, just, you know, all the Ferdinand, like all of that era when I worked with you, and when I worked at the sun, and then I had a van. And then Bob Leffler, and then the 90s came, 35 years ago, man, you know, infield, the

Dick Jerardi  13:30

infield blew up Nestor in 1973 Secretariat. That was the first year it really became a thing. And it was the horse that attracted people, because, I mean, this was the horse, right? And then over time, it just grew and grew. They promoted it. How exactly the college kids got there, frankly, I don’t remember how that happened, but I was wondering who said

Nestor Aparicio  13:51

this would be a great idea to bring kids down and get and get hammered in the infield, because, like, rite of passage, and that’s what it was. It was

Dick Jerardi  13:59

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a word of mouth thing. It was like, Hey, this is kind of a cool thing. Why don’t we go down there?

Nestor Aparicio  14:03

She does Karen to Francis, because it happened during the Joe during the Joe era, right? It happened prior to that.

Dick Jerardi  14:09

It was already big before Joe and and Frank and Frank to Francis got involved.

Nestor Aparicio  14:15

I know was big. Instead, men would always question how many people were there and all that. But then I went to the derby in 90, maybe six or seven in that range, and I I did it, you know, a handful of eight or 910, derbies over that period of time, when every year, every other year, for a while, my wife and I went to several. I thought that was the greatest sporting event. I’ve been to 27 Super Bowls, I’ve been to World Cup, I’ve been I’ve done all this cool stuff. I’ve always thought the derby really nailed what it’s supposed to be like. And the more I went to the derby at that point, and the atrophy of the Preakness into the arts and into the modern era that I have only been to the derby once since they remodeled, remodel, but they were always it’s sort of like a free. Way in Boston, they’re always remodeling it and making it bigger and better. Belmont, I’ve been through several times. It’s just this giant thing. They’ve dumped money into that now, and there’s a thing there going on. I just I haven’t met the advocate for it here, Dick, other than having you on in Philadelphia as an old media guy who’s from here, and loves the Baltimore, and really knows the history of all of this as to say, like, it’s never going to be that again, whatever that was, it’s never going to be that again. And it’s not going to be a debutante ball or an EDM party that the Belinda stronic thought it was going to be. I don’t know what it’s going to be to be successful, but the first thing it needs to have, the first thing that I bragged about with you, and I’ve been doing this ish for 35 years, and I have all the old tapes of Clem coming in on the night before the big race, and Charlie calling in, and you were all you would leave sometimes Pimlico to come sit in the studio with me back in the 90s when I was broadcasting downtown, and it was such a festival, and bands would come to town, and it was a week long thing, but it always had the thing that the derby didn’t even have. And I know this because I promoted it professionally. It had the Derby winner. Exactly. It had the Derby winner, you know, yeah, so,

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Dick Jerardi  16:18

so what’s happened, Nestor, we’ve talked about this before. The whole sport has changed in the 21st Century, where horses run very infrequently. They never run back in two weeks at the top levels of the sport, except during the Triple Crown.

Nestor Aparicio  16:34

And when we could clear this up, because Jim Palmer doesn’t we don’t have five starters on a team anymore, or four, or four, and they make 38 starts and go seven innings every night. We that’s not the way pictures work, right? So that’s probably the greatest example, correct?

Dick Jerardi  16:50

Okay, and so that’s changed, and unfortunately, the Triple Crown hasn’t changed with it. And I’ve advocated for quite some time that if, in fact, you want to get the Derby winner on a regular basis, and they missed the Derby winner last year and in 2022 and that just won’t do, because that is, that is the marketing tool that you have, that it’s the first place you can see the Kentucky Derby winner run, then you’re going to have to move the race off two weeks. I mean, that’s that’s been clear for quite a long time. I mean, Bill Mott last year never even gave it a thought. Was sovereignty, like, why would I go there? It’s kind of, and it wasn’t a knock on Baltimore or Pimlico or the Preakness. It was a more. It was just about the timing.

Nestor Aparicio  17:31

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He just said, Look, that’s good for my animal. And my animal is the

Dick Jerardi  17:34

business, correct, that’s right. And his animal is worth a ton of money. It’s owned by Godolphin, which is the Sheikhs of Dubai. So, yeah, I mean, it just, and it’s really a shame, and there are the traditionalists that go, Well, this is always the way it’s been done. Well, no, that’s not, that’s stupid, right? I mean, it’s just not the

Nestor Aparicio  17:53

way it works. What has really

Dick Jerardi  17:54

wasn’t like that back in the day. Anyway, there’s always been different time periods between

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Nestor Aparicio  17:59

the races. What is stood in the way of this, other than a few humans, because it is humans in business, and the way Churchill does business, and the way NBC has done business, and the way Belmont, New York State and and how, honestly, the Maryland’s been the weakest link through all of this. Am I correct saying that?

Dick Jerardi  18:14

Well, not necessarily. I would say Belmont without, without a triple crown possibility, is not, even as good as the Preakness with the Derby winner. That’s the way I would look at it. But television has been a factor. Because look, TV likes the continuity of five weeks. And for years, it was always on ABC, way back in the day, all three and then they were all on NBC, till a couple of years ago, when Naira went with Fox. Because they have a they have a deal with Fox. Fox has their races on every day of the week on FS one or FS two. So that made some sense for them. But yeah, television has partially stood in the way. Tradition has stood in the way, but it just, it’s going to change. It’s just a question of, what’s the timing going to be between the races? And I hopefully it will happen starting next year, but nothing set in stone. I know there was a story the other day that said they’ve decided to move it to three weeks. That’s not remotely official. That story could be correct. I can’t say that it is or isn’t. I don’t even know if three weeks is the is the thing anyway.

Nestor Aparicio  19:19

So that would make Memorial Day in Baltimore, right? I mean, that would make Memorial Day correctness.

Dick Jerardi  19:26

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That would make that would make a lot of sense. You hell, you could even run it on Memorial Day. You could run it on Monday. You don’t have to run it on a Saturday. But there are ways to do this that need to change and and ultimately, Nestor, it’s going to come down to the new management. What are their ideas? How are they going to find a way to rekindle this interest in what was once one of the great, I mean, the great scenes in American sports. And again, I’ve watched it, you know, you Super Bowl, of course.

Nestor Aparicio  19:58

I mean Katie grant. X is, man, they get an all star game, like we had this every year, and I’ve watched it dick. I mean, I don’t even know how to discuss this without being either appropriately or performatively pissed off, right? And every year, you and I get together. Sometimes we talk college basketball and cheesesteaks, and I love doing that with you up in Philly. But like when this subject comes up, am I not rightfully pissed off on behalf of Ekman and on behalf of Frank dufran and on behalf of we just lost king Leatherman, just all of these people that put the you put your life into this and built their lives around the track, around the business, around raising horses, around the medicine of horses, around the care of horses, around betting on it, making money, whatever it is. And I think to myself, and this is my $10 million journalism question for you now that I’m a grown up and you taught me the right way 42 years ago. Who cares? Who? Who give me 10 people to bring on this radio show, and I’m the only one that will do this. Bal will go over there and slather them all up for a minute or two when they’re not doing whatever they’re doing with the football team or the baseball team or, you know, whatever it is, it’s not like they pretend horse racing matters. They put their hats on and they do their broadcast, and they get their sponsors, and everybody underwrites it. God bless them. I want them to make a buck. They’re the Hearst Corporation. They don’t. We ran off first in Avenue, but I haven’t met people that care, that call me and say, Dude, you’re an a hole. You’re getting it wrong. I mean, come on your show, and you know, I’ll answer all these what like I have you. I like, I don’t even like, I don’t even know who else I could reach you that would know that. I mean, Bob Baffert doesn’t know what’s going on here. Yeah, he’s got his own problems. You know what? I mean, like, all of these states, all the all of the Preakness was going to go to Gulfstream because of magma Magna, whatever the hell magma I feel like, Dr Evil. I would say this last 1520, years where, like, I’ve never met Belinda Stronach or Frank Stronach. I would sit in a room with them, and they d Wayne comes in, and they feed me eggs and pancakes and give Eclipse awards. And it like I’ve watched this thing from Nikki Zito through MC Hammer through, you know, Steinbrenner had a horse here one year. So just like I’ve Gene Simmons sitting at the Preakness. So I know how big this used to be. And I keep like, looking around, my wife often says to me, like, because I asked her, because she loves horses, she loves the Clydesdales coming in and, like all of that. And she says, like, every year she’s watched it, actually, we’ve been married 23 years, been a lot of preaknesses, been to Derby’s been to some Belmonts, like all of that. She’s like, it feels like nobody cares. And that’s what my wife says. And I’m like, Yeah, I’m the sports guy, the conversation guy, the open like, let’s make Baltimore better. Let’s nobody ever calls me about horse racing, ever and says, I want to talk about horse racing. I want to David Richardson’s the only guy I know that, and that’s some of the time, you know, when there’s good news, like, because, because this doesn’t feel like good news to me, Dick. And that’s why I’m in front of this. And this is why I’m not asking you to handicap who’s going to win the derby. The freaking Derby winner is not coming here anyway. What difference does it make? Yeah, you know what I mean to the people here who don’t stop for the derby the way they should and could and might, other than a couple of bars that come put a hat on, we’ll make you admit Julep or whatever, because you can bet from anywhere now, right? So I’m, I’m trying to get my arms around at 58 what? What am I supposed to be selling? That’s Baltimore positive. And who cares who’s involved in this that really that, not politically, whether it’s Brandon Scott, or Wes Moore, or, you know, whomever is going to be running the government by the time this thing, but, like, Who’s, who’s got money in the game here that the this state organization that’s bought the entity.

Dick Jerardi  24:16

So the state of Maryland obviously has a huge interest in this, or this, with this purchase, this takeover would not have happened, right? They realized, in the stronger group, obviously realized that they weren’t going to put any money into Pimlico. They had let it slowly fade away. They had, you can discuss any way you want on how they were approaching marketing, the Preakness. They were trying to do it similarly to what they do with the Pegasus at Gulfstream park, but it’s just not the same crowd. It just wasn’t going to work. And you can blame them all you want, but again, that’s not going to solve the problem. So I think the people that care, clearly the state assembly cared, or they would not. This bill would never have passed, right? They would never have come up with this money. To build a new Pimlico. So there are people out there that care. Now, the question is, Bill Knopf and his crew with the Maryland Jockey Club that are now, he came

Nestor Aparicio  25:09

from another track, right?

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Dick Jerardi  25:10

Monmouth Park? Yeah. I know Bill, yeah, fine. Monmouth Park is a great place. Anybody that’s ever been there, it’s an awesome spot. So, I mean, he’s good people, he’s he’s going to try to get this done right? The question is, Nestor, can you bring this back to its former glory? And I’ll give you an example. The big five here in Philadelphia was a gigantic thing for years and years and years, and it’s basically been left to die. Now it’s become it’s hardly anything anymore. It was a huge Philadelphia tradition, similar to the Preakness at bimlico. So you’re a Baltimore

Nestor Aparicio  25:47

guy, so that’s Calvert Hall, Loyola city, pot it’s those iconic things. The girls basketball has a rivalry in that

Dick Jerardi  25:55

way, absolutely. And when you let those things, you’d start to take them for granted. And here’s another one. The Army, Navy game is always in Philly, always, well, the kind of people up here kind of just took it for granted. And the army people run West Point in Annapolis. So wait a second, we have this incredible event, and people want to bid on it. So now it’s going all around, you know, it’s in Baltimore, some years. It’s, I mean, you know, it goes, it goes around Philadelphia lost that as a regular event and that, and that’s what happens, and it’s what’s happened to the Preakness. And again, there’s nothing can be done about what has happened. It’s now just a question of, what’s the vision? What? What are the people in charge? How are they going to build this as a sustainable entity throughout the year, and like Churchill Downs would not be a sustainable entity without that Kentucky Derby weekend, it just wouldn’t be. Well, I go down to

Nestor Aparicio  26:49

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Gulfstream now, dude, and it looks like it came straight from Dubai, like it is a more. It looks like Vegas, it looks like Caesar’s, it’s, it’s this giant palatial marble entity.

Dick Jerardi  27:00

It’s basically a mall. When I went down there to cover a race, I know it’s been 20 years now, I could barely find the place, you know, it was like, Where is this? Well, I

Nestor Aparicio  27:08

remember when they put the disco into, you know, in the Gulf Stream, and I thought, This is it was so sexy. I invited I said to my wife, you got to go over and see this thing. It’s nice. And I and then we went to Saratoga. My wife and I went to Saratoga and had this beautiful picnic kind of day. And it was just like something out of a 1958 postcard, right? Like guys and dolls or something. And I and then I come back here, and we have the Preakness here. And then I go to Belmont and see this giant, sort of the auto racetrack looking giant thing. And then Churchill, with all this refined this and whatever. And then the last 10 years, and this, like, I’m not even being mean, I’m being freaking honest. Half of the track was condemned the last five Right, correct. Literally condemned

Dick Jerardi  27:55

the old grandstand where, you know, I used to sit way back in the day, and they sold that all the way down to the end of the home stretch is there was they condemned it, and it was kind of a sad commentary. And, yeah, going there. And again, I love

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Nestor Aparicio  28:09

Bruno Mars making $10 million out in the infield, and it condemned the racetrack in a rainstorm without the Kentucky Derby winner. I mean, what are we doing?

Dick Jerardi  28:18

There’s nothing Nestor, we could talk about what should have been done and what could have been done. It doesn’t matter anymore.

Nestor Aparicio  28:24

But okay, so what, what is correctly? Correctly is you got to have the Derby winner. You got nothing right, and you feel like that. They’ve at least identified. They’re not in denial anymore about this.

Dick Jerardi  28:36

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It’s not look it’s the old date isn’t working anyway, right? The two weeks. So now’s the time you got the TV contract. The TV partner, whoever that is, is going to have a say in when the race is run. All those things are being discussed as we speak. Maybe they’ve already come to conclusions on it, but I think all that needs to happen firstly, and then you need to find a way to remarket this incredible event that the state of Maryland has that’s, you know, it’s been run 150 it was 150 years last year, and they, unfortunately, what was is no longer is. So now you got to find a way to redo, rebrand this thing, make it the big thing it once was with a newer, more modern facility. Rethink how you want to do things. It’s still doable. It’s still a phenomenal event. You just got to have new new people, new ideas, new people. And that’s exactly what they have. We’ll see what they come up with.

Nestor Aparicio  29:34

Well, I put in for my press credential, and I think I’m going, I mean, I don’t, you know, I got thrown out of the press box three years ago when I went so, like, that’s a whole other like, how I’ve been Sal Sinatra. I met him once and gave him a card, and I the new fella that you’ve mentioned here. I have not met anyone, anyone, and if you’re pissed at me, bring it on. Nestor Baltimore, positive.com as Peter Angelos once said, except I mean it. A I’m a very

Dick Jerardi  30:00

available individual. Here’s the suggestion, Nestor, why don’t you call in there and see if he can get Bill knob, see if he’ll come on the show?

Nestor Aparicio  30:06

I’d love. I just, I want to learn and get this vision so that I can believe in it and sell it, right? I mean, I believe that every part of this vision back to Codex and spectacular bid and affirmed, and alidar and Seattle. I’m not some jabroni when it comes to like horse racing here, I’m one of the few people that have actually dedicated large stretches of my time, my efforts, money, getting on planes, flying around. Still haven’t been and this breaks Marty McGee’s heart. Still haven’t been to Lexington. I still haven’t been the Monmouth or Canterbury, or there’s a whole bunch of you’ve been to Del Mar. A long time ago. I went to, I have not been a Santa or the tracks you have to go to, I’ve been to golf stream,

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Dick Jerardi  30:55

yeah, you need forget golf stream. You know, you need to go to Keeneland. You need to go to Santa, Anita. You need to go to Del Mar. Those are

Nestor Aparicio  31:03

the three. Del Mar really has some, you know, Del Mar, by Del Mar 1000 times, right? I went into del Mar and, dude, it was 30 years ago when it was before. Well, they’ve,

Dick Jerardi  31:17

they’ve redone it. They did the whole race track. They tore down the old track put up a new one. It’s a it’s a great place to great place for the Breeders Cup. So, yeah, those are the places and what? What’s great about those meats, like at Saratoga and Keeneland and Del Mar is they’re short. They’re not year round. They’re what we call boutique meets. We have Timonium boutique precisely. Maryland’s answer to Keeneland is timoni, which is fun in its own way, right? But it’s just, it’s just different

Nestor Aparicio  31:44

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doing the show there tomorrow, Dick.

Dick Jerardi  31:45

Well, there you go. Love timoni, and what could be better than the corner of York at Timonium roads? Can you do me a favor? Because then you

Nestor Aparicio  31:53

get a lot of family down here. I When I think of you, I’ve text Marlo, who is literally my, my spiritual Godfather in every way. He’s always on my shoulder when I’m writing, laughing at what I write about, and I’ve been trying to get him out to lunch. And so we work on this once a year. You know how this is with these guys? Jack refuses to come on the show with me, like I love like I really want to bring jack on and give him love. But So one day, when you come down, you me and Marlo, we go over to the spa, which is now a costa stick. It’s my sponsor, all right, and I’m gonna buy, all right, anything I’ll get you. Get the two crap. Do what I did last week. Get one fry, one broiled. Do it up, man, I’ll get you this cream, spinach, perfect.

Dick Jerardi  32:39

Yeah, no, fried broiled. Let’s get

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Nestor Aparicio  32:41

real there. You don’t do a fried crab woody uptown. Come on. Dick Girardi has been my friend for 42 years. I love him. He knows I love him. I owe you a palestra date now. You owe me a cost this. Now that I’m now that they put the damn restaurant right in the middle of the racetrack, there’s no excuses for degenerates like you to not come to join degenerates like me at the

33:02

OTB. Many times

Nestor Aparicio  33:05

it’s really weird, is it? Modern gambling is weird for old farts like you Right? Like, where I’m in the OTB, and you can go over and I can see the, I mean, I’m in it, and the OTB people come into Costas now, and every other TV in Costas has racing on all the time. And then, you know, I have the Maryland lottery, which they have the race track, which looks like race horses, but it’s not the keynotes going on. I mean, I would think this would really stimulate a person like you that loves to gamble and loves horses, you know, like, that’s your first love, right? Yeah, 99%

Dick Jerardi  33:35

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of mine on my phone now or on a laptop, I don’t go, you know, the track. When I’m at a track, I have a tendency to bet on my phone anyway. Just simpler, I don’t carry around. But this

Nestor Aparicio  33:46

is old school, dude. It smells like the track. If the track you got to park at the track, this is going to be it’s going to be better than nostalgia. It’s going to be nostalgic because you got nest with you.

33:58

Come on. Mark it up. Count it all.

Nestor Aparicio  34:00

Right, let’s do it. You bought me a cheese steak and Phil, let me buy you crab cake. It’s ammonium Okay.

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34:05

Buy me two. What else

Nestor Aparicio  34:07

are you still doing? Penn State, I am tell everybody what you’re doing down here and why I love it. I do a horse

Dick Jerardi  34:13

racing show once a week on TV in the market called Let’s go racing. It’s been on in the market for over 30 years. I read a story once a week on horse racing for our website. Let’s go racing parks.com. I do the Penn State Games. I’m the analyst for Penn State men’s basketball. Been doing that. I just missed the 22nd season. Wow. I’m still involved with the I’ve been from the start with the buyer speed figures. Our original foursome was Andy buyer, Mark Hopkins, Randy Moss and myself. We have a couple of others who have joined us, because we now do every racetrack in the country, and anybody gets a daily racing form sees the buyer figures in there. I have a radio show that I do at the parks casino sports book on Saturday mornings once a week, from nine to

Nestor Aparicio  34:57

8

11, Cheap Trick played there. Last week. There you go. I didn’t know of your association with the Senate establishment, yeah,

Dick Jerardi  35:07

right across the parking lot from the racetrack,

Nestor Aparicio  35:08

except the Northeast Philly, right?

Dick Jerardi  35:11

It’s in Bucks County, but it’s essentially northeast Philly. It’s right,

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Nestor Aparicio  35:13

I have never been there, and I want to come in and like, six is played there. And Tesla, I mean, there’s been some big shows there. I gotta get up there.

Dick Jerardi  35:21

Oh, yeah. Now they got, they got a really nice concert, concert place. So, yeah, it’s, they just, there’s a hotel that’s essentially on the property now

Nestor Aparicio  35:30

that they don’t get banged up like that. I can drive home after, yeah.

Dick Jerardi  35:35

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So, so I got that going on a couple of other gigs that I do. So, yeah, I’m still in action, just not at the newspaper anymore.

Nestor Aparicio  35:43

That’s all. I love. My visits with you, and I hope that horse racing doesn’t become so irrelevant, or you become so old and I become so cranky that we can’t sit and talk about it. So I’ll see you soon. Come down, seriously. Come down. And let’s, let’s go to the track. And you know, it’s very few place you can go where they actually have the form. I mean, there’s forms everywhere, people reading them. People got their readers out like you’re sitting in Costas having a crab cake and people screaming at the televisions. There’s eight guys around the TV. Come on too. It’s all that sound of the track that you’ll love. So no question. All right. Dick Girard has been my friend forever. The Philadelphia Daily News, the man, the myth, the legend. I don’t even know what that was, but it serves as my the Preakness is coming and what the hell is going on? That’s all I have. I am Nestor. We are W, N, S T. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore, and we never stop talking Baltimore positive. I still love horse racing. Don’t be mad at me.