The Coalition Maryland Hasn’t Called Yet
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews While Maryland's Racing Commission held its August meeting largely in silence and the...
Tag: Preakness Stakes
The Commission Was Silent. A Soldier Wasn’t.
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews | Maryland on the Map The Maryland Racing Commission held its monthly meeting on Wednesday,...
How a $375 Million Plan Became a $715 Million Problem
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews | Maryland on the Map Before Churchill Downs. Before the Preakness IP. Before the NBC deal...
What Maryland Didn’t Consider
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews | Maryland On the Map The Wednesday press conference produced three things Maryland needed:...
Pimlico Has No Plan for the Other 364 Days
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews A source texted Fox Baltimore's Chris Papst this week after the Preakness was excluded from...
What Moore Announced — And What Comes Next
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Governor Wes Moore held his press conference Wednesday. It was, by the standards of...
Power Over People: How Annapolis Rewrote the Rules — and What It Ignored to Do It
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews The Maryland General Assembly closed its three-day special session Tuesday night having...
The Hand They’re Not Playing: How Maryland Can Rebuild Horse Racing After the Preakness Shake-Up
Maryland owns the assets, the history, and the window. What it needs is a strategy — and someone willing to make the...
What CDI Does With Tracks It Owns
Churchill Downs has a documented playbook for acquired racing assets: acquire, extract value, close the original venue,...
Nine Minutes. One Question.
CDI and NYRA spent the day defending their new championship series — and confirming, almost in spite of themselves,...
Blindsided, Again
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Editor's Note: MDBayNews published this morning, at approximately 11:30 am, the first...
The Bet That Already Lost
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Breaking — August 3, 2026This morning, Churchill Downs Incorporated and the New York...
Maryland Made America: The Old Line State’s 250-Year Gift to the Nation
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews | An Independence Day Feature | July 4, 2026 There is a version of American history where...
The Governor Bought a Horse Race
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews On Thursday, with five days remaining before a primary election, Governor Wes Moore's...
Maryland Is Bleeding Money. Voters Have a Choice.
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews — Maryland on the Map Mail-in ballots are already in circulation. The Republican primary...
Maryland Is Trying to Buy Back a Race It Never Should Have Lost
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews — Maryland on the Map Maryland is quietly trying to spend another $85 million. According...
Did Churchill Downs Give Wes Moore Buyer’s Remorse?
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews — Maryland on the Map When Governor Wes Moore announced Maryland's plan to purchase...
The Preakness Doesn’t Need the Derby Winner. It Needs a Reason to Matter.
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews — Maryland on the Map The skip announcement came four days after the Kentucky Derby. It...
Derby Winners Are Skipping the Preakness. Maryland Is Spending $400 Million on It Anyway.
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews — Maryland on the Map On Wednesday morning, Cherie DeVaux Racing posted a statement to...
Maryland Spent $450 Million. Churchill Downs Bought the Crown Jewel. Moore Wasn’t Invited.
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews This Saturday, as the 152nd Kentucky Derby runs at Churchill Downs, Democratic governors...
Maryland Owns the Racetrack. Churchill Downs Owns the Race.
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews — Maryland on the Map, Part 7 On Monday, Governor Wes Moore announced that Maryland had...
In Park Heights, the Preakness Has Always Been Nearby. The Question Is Whether It’s Ever Been For Them.
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews — Maryland on the Map, Part 5 On race day, the bow-tied fans arrive. They fill the...
If the Preakness Bet Fails, What’s Maryland’s Plan B?
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews — Maryland on the Map, Part 4 Maryland does not have a Plan B. That is not an accusation....
What $400 Million Bought: Mapping the Prestige Gap Between the Masters, the Derby, and the Preakness
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews | Maryland on the Map, Part 3 The numbers are not flattering, and they are worth sitting...
Maryland’s $400 Million Question
By Mike Phillips | MDBayNews — Maryland on the Map, Part 2 At some point, Maryland needs to have an honest conversation...
The Most Exciting Two Minutes vs. The Most Exclusive Weekend in Sports
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews | Maryland on the Map, Part 1 This weekend, roughly 40,000 patrons — not fans, patrons,...
Maryland Cuts Sports Event Funding — And Pimlico Is Paying the Price
By MDBayNews Staff Maryland lawmakers are once again tightening the budget—and this time, the cuts are landing squarely...
Pimlico’s $400M Reboot: A Welcome Investment—If Bureaucrats Don’t Blow It Again
By Michael Phillips The echoes of hooves pounding the dirt at Pimlico Race Course have quieted—for now. On July 24, 2025,...
A New Era for Pimlico: Maryland Approves Bold Rebuild of Historic Racetrack
In a landmark decision that blends preservation with progress, Maryland has officially greenlit the demolition and...