BALTIMORE, 02-21-12---The Maryland Jockey Club today unveiled a new logo for Pimlico Race Course. Pimlico, which opened on October 25, 1870, is the second oldest racetrack in the United States and is home to the $1 million Preakness Stakes®, the middle jewel of thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown.

The new logo is a composition of two elements.

The first element is the cupola weather vane, one of the most iconic features at Pimlico. Since 1909, as soon as the Preakness has been declared official, a painter applies the colors of the victorious owner’s silks and the number of the winning horse onto the weather vane which sits atop the cupola in the Preakness winners’ circle.

The second element is a simple, elegant and clean typography of the name Pimlico, which forms at the base of the building when both elements are combined.

“We wanted a fresh look before returning next month for the spring meet,” said Maryland Jockey Club president Tom Chuckas. “The great Alfred Vanderbilt once said Pimlico ‘is an accepted American institution, devoted to the best interests of a great sport, graced by time, respected for its honorable past’.  Pimlico is steeped in tradition and we feel the new logo properly celebrates one of the most historic racetracks in the world.”

The 2012 Pimlico spring meeting opens Friday, March 30 and will be headlined by the 137^th running of the Preakness on Saturday, May 19.

Chuckas indicated that Laurel Park, which celebrated 100 years of racing a year ago, will unveil a new logo before the end of the calendar year.