Celebrating the final moments at a dilapidated venue that they helped push from a years-long redevelopment rut to a $500 million reimagining of Maryland’s premier horse racing attraction, Maryland politicians showed up Saturday for an annual mix of politicking and sporting at the 150th Preakness Stakes.

“People are excited about what the future is going to hold,” Gov. Wes Moore said inside the track at Pimlico Race Course about an hour before the main event.

“The state has made a historic investment in ensuring that we can not just have a future for Pimlico, but a prosperous future for Park Heights as well. And now we just make sure we execute,” said Moore, a Democrat.

Moore and other Maryland officials who’ve supported the state’s nearly shovel-ready plan to tear down Pimlico and rebuild it were among the spectators who made the annual pilgrimage to the storied site’s “inner circle” Saturday.

Hundreds of guests filtered in and out of adjoining tents hosted by the Maryland Department of Commerce and the Democratic Governors Association — one being a gathering sponsored by taxpayers to the tune of roughly $200,000 every year, and the other was a fundraiser for the national group looking to elect governors like Moore.

Officials say the state tent — like the redevelopment plans — is an economic development tool to entice more investments in the state.

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