Time to get Preaky! Each year thousands of college-age kids come together at the Pimlico Race Track outside Baltimore, MD to get a little taste of the mix between high class horse racing and one of the biggest parties of the year. On my way down, I picked up two of my friends in Philly, and we then headed down to B-more. We set our alarms bright and early for the next morning, which the girls were not too thrilled about in the least. We snagged an uber into the race track which ended up being a great choice since there is almost no parking less than $30 in the surrounding areas.
After waiting in line for over an hour we finally made it into the infield. Walking out from the tunnel makes you feel like a gladiator that just stepped into the coliseum to take on whatever Preakness has to throw at you. A piece of advice, GET THE MUG CLUB DEAL! For $20 extra you get free beer all day. They have tents in various locations of the infield that are just lined with a massive line of kegs all set up in parallel to pull from the next keg once it is kicked. The line for beer was never more than 5 minutes.
It was an amazing experience and without knowing it, I ran into dozens of friends, old & young, from college and from home. Walking around the infield you will see characters of all spectrums. You have the sorority girls that think it’s the Derby, in their massive hats. The fraternity guys dressed in their Sundays best Seersucker or basketball jerseys and chubbies. Or you get the reckless crew of guys dressed up in hilarious costumes and absolutely killing it.
My friends and I grabbed a spot near one of the outer fences, so we always had somewhere to meet, away from the crowd, and so we were able to watch some of the 14 races that go off during the day before the Big Race. The music at the venue has almost turned Preakness into more of a festival than a horse race. We saw acts from country to rap, from rock to EDM. But most importantly I got my two friends, Vince and Craig, all the way to the front row for ARMIN VAN BUUREN by politely asking the people in front of us. Armin’s set was one of the most incredible ones I’ve been to.
As soon as the music ended, the clouds rolled in and let down torrential rain. Somehow, the race went off amidst the lightning and thunder. American Pharaoh took home his second win in the triple crown, and we went home soaking wet with the stoke still pumping and talks of buying tickets for the 2016 race because of how much fun we had.
Don’t Forget to:
-Buy the Mug Club ticket. Best bang for your buck and allows you to not worry about bringing $$ to the venue
-When you go to bet on a horse, make sure you know how to say the bet before you get up there. If not, you’ll end up pissing a lot of people off that are behind you.
- Race number
- Amount of your bet
- Type of bet you’re placing
- Horse’s program number
For example: Race seven, $2 to win on #4
-Walk around the infield and check out the entire venue. You’d be surprised what you see how extravagant the Infieldfest has become over the past years.
-FYI everyone in the infield is most likely going to be trying to hail a cab or and UBER, so plan accordingly on when your leaving, it was a mess this year.
Hi there, my name is Zachary Kenney and I’m an adventure filmmaker & photographer. My passion is to tell stories that will hopefully motivate you to go live a more adventurous life. Whether that is to experience the view from the summit of a mountain, or wandering through a new town on a road trip. Currently based out of Park City, UT.
