BALTIMORE — A new poll shows a majority of people in Maryland and Baltimore are not in favor of investing hundreds of millions of tax dollars at Pimlico race track to keep the Preakness Stakes in the city.
The Stronach Group, which owns the Maryland Jockey Club, as well as Pimlico and Laurel Park, has made its intentions clear, that it wants to move the Preakness Stakes to Laurel. They paid for this poll to be done, by the Gonzales Polling organization.
It's been estimated that it would cost more than $400-million to rebuild the Pimlico Race Course, and the poll showed just 23 percent of people thought taxpayer money should be used,to do that, but 67 percent oppose the idea entirely.
The same holds true when the poll focuses on the Baltimore metro area. 28 percent of people in think $400 million should be used to rebuild Pimlico, and 61 percent of people are against the idea altogether.
For the idea of the Preakness staying at Pimlico, 37 percent of people in the Baltimore metro area who were polled think the Preakness Stakes should stay where it's been for more than a century, and 51 percent would be fine with the idea of moving it to Laurel.
Simliar results were reported in the Eastern Shore, the Western part of the state, as well as the DC metro area.
