Alright folks, let me walk you through how I tackled putting together that Maryland horse racing calendar for 2024. Gotta admit, it started because I got burned last year trying to catch races. Drove all the way down to Laurel Park last minute, figured they ran every weekend, right? Wrong. Place was locked up tighter than a drum. Totally my bad, didn’t check ahead. That feeling sucks, wasting gas and time.
So this year, I swore I wouldn’t let it happen again. Went digging online. Typed something like “Maryland horse racing dates 2024” into the search bar – real high-tech stuff, I know. But man, it was messy. Found some forum post from like 2019, totally useless. Some fancy track websites just listed events without clear dates. Even found a page for some golf series presented by a car dealer instead! Talk about off track. Gotta laugh or you’d cry.
Then, bingo! Stumbled onto this PDF buried deep in some official-looking racing commission website. Felt like finding treasure. Had the whole 2024 schedule laid out. Dates, places, the works. But here’s the catch – it wasn’t exactly printer-friendly. Looked like someone made it in the 90s. Had to squint to read some bits, and the dates were jumbled in with other state tracks way outside Maryland.
Pulled out my trusty notebook – yeah, the paper kind. Just started scribbling down anything Maryland-related:
- Laurel Park: Saw dates mostly running through spring and fall like March, April, then September onwards. Kinda spread out.
- Timonium Fairgrounds: That one popped up only late summer, August mostly. Short season there.
- Pimlico Race Course: Found it! Big dates around May – gotta be for that huge Preakness Stakes race everyone talks about. Looked like other dates scattered around that too.
Went through every single page, crossing out repeats or non-Maryland stuff. Took forever. Got coffee splashes on the notebook pages, added to the authentic mess. Once I had it all down, I typed it up nice and clean on my laptop. Broke it down by track so it made sense. Felt pretty good seeing it all clear.
Made sure to mark it as the 2024 schedule everywhere, loud and clear – didn’t want anyone mistaking it for this year or next, especially with time flies by fast.
Wondered if people actually use this stuff. Well, turns out they do! A buddy planning a trip up from Virginia last month used the list to hit Pimlico on the right day. Texted me a pic from the track, empty beer cup and all. Made the whole messy digging worth it. Saves headaches and gas money. That’s the point, right?
