The Ravens have been to the Super Bowl. But the Preakness comes to Baltimore every year.
“Once again, as it has for so many years, the Preakness returns. It is like the Super Bowl, but you don?t have to wine and dine the NFL in order to get it to come here,” Baltimore Mayor Martin O?Malley said.
At a news conference Wednesday at Lexington Market, Maryland Preakness Celebration, Inc. announced the calendar of events for the week prior to the race. The 131st running will be May 20 at Pimlico.
O?Malley was joined by representatives of Lexington Market, the Maryland Jockey Club, and the State Department of Business and Economic Development.
“We are proud to show off our city,” O?Malley added. “We are proud that the whole world comes to Baltimore. Nothing makes us more proud than being able to host the Preakness Stakes.”
Dennis Castleman, the Assistance Secretary at Department of Business and Economic Development and the Chief Marketing Officer for the State of Maryland, said that last year?s Preakness Celebration had a $26 million economic impact.
“The Preakness celebration is very important, the running of the Preakness is important, and the entire equine industry is important to the state of Maryland,” Castleman said.
Castleman said that more than 200,000 people participated in the 2005 Preakness Celebration. As a result, Maryland breeders sold more than 108 thoroughbreds.
“May is a great time to be in Baltimore and a great time to be a Marylander,” said Mark Friedman, acting president of Maryland Preakness Celebration, Inc.
Friedman also announced that WBC heavyweight champion of the world Hasim “The Rock” Rahman would be the grand marshal of the 33rd annual Westside Preakness Parade.
IT?S A CELEBRATION
Here is a look at events leading up to May 20:
» May 12, the Preakness Celebration starts with a free concert at the “And They?re Off” Kickoff at Harbor East.
» May 13, the annual Preakness 5K race (the third leg of the 2006 Triple Crown 5K Challenge) will start and end at Pimlico, and the 33rd annual Westside Preakness Parade will start on Martin Luther King Boulevard and follow Eutaw Street, ending at Lombard.
» May 16, the Pee Wee Preakness will be held in Federal Hill.
»May 17, will start out with the Sunrise at Old Hill Top. The Preakness Frog Hop will be held at noon in War Memorial Plaza and in the evening, Power Plant Live will kick off three nights of live music.
» May 18, Lexington Market will host the 16th annual Lexington Market Crab Derby and the Preakness Balloon Fest will be held at Oregon Ridge Park.
» May 19, Preakness Eve at Pimlico starts in the morning and at night Belvedere Square will host the “Twas the Night before Preakness” concert. Following the concert, there will be a fireworks show near the National Aquarium in the Inner Harbor.
