INSIDE EDITION reports on the wild partying that takes place at one of the country's most prestigious horse racing events.
With beer bongs and bikinis, the scene is reminiscent of a wild spring break. It's certainly not what one would expect to encounter at The Preakness, the second leg of the Triple Crown and one of the most prestigious events in horseracing.
INSIDE EDITION sent Lisa Guerrero and her team to investigate. "Some fans are out of control before the race even starts," she reported.
The event was absolute chaos. People were passed out on the grass throughout the infield well before the horses in the Preakness Stakes were ever in the gate. INSIDE EDITION witnessed several fans in distress that were carried out on stretchers by paramedics. As the booze continued to flow, many misbehaving fans were ejected from the track by event security.
With a massive new advertising campaign featuring a mascot named Kegasus, the world-famous Pimlico Park seemed to be encouraging the excessive drinking. "This year's infield fest is going to be epic! A beer garden and my favorite, the bikini contest!" Kegasus says.
This year, authorities did try to crack down on some of the more dangerous stunts like the “running of the urinals.” In past years, many fans have tried to sprint across the tops of the infield Porta-Pottys while bystanders pelted them with full beer cans. While race officials no longer allow fans to bring their own alcohol into Pimlico Park, INSIDE EDITION did see at least one fan attempt the “running of the urinals” at this years Preakness. The fan didn’t make it far, before he was collared by event security and thrown out of the track.
The Preakness is sometimes referred to as a 10-hour party to celebrate a 2-minute race. But from what we could see, a lot of people weren't even aware that there was a race going on.
