I go to Laurel on those Saturdays when I have nothing else to do, such as fold my laundry. I go mostly to watch horses run. But whenever I go, there's still a hundred or so people. Some are clones of the characters from A Year at the Races - always older and with a cigar in their mouths. Some are middle-aged guys like myself with sense to not make this their life nor who've made the great leap to online betting. Some are young families spending an afternoon at the park in the sun, looking at horses. One who's always there is a paraplegic with a probe attached to his forehead, making his picks from a DRF strapped to the desk attached to his motorized wheelchair.

OTOH, Laurel most serious bettors pay to sit not in the grandstand but under it in the Wilwyn Theater, watching and betting on race feeds from all over North America. Just for how long this will keep Laurel and Pimlico from going the way of Bowie is anyone's guess.