Horse Racing Fans Drink, Rejoice & Bet: The Preakness App Is Here

If you saw my Samsung DROID Charge review you may have correctly guessed that I’m from Baltimore. That comes with a few pretty standard feelings:

• Winning isn’t everything: we enjoy baseball for the atmosphere of Camden Yards
• Winning is everything: Ray Lewis will pummel you into mother earth
• Winning is- wait, is there a horse race going on?

The 2nd leg of the Triple Crown – The Preakness Stakes – is held in Baltimore, MD (Kentucky Derby is before, Belmont Stakes is after). For years and years, Baltimoreans (or Baltimorons?) would pack up coolers of beer, booze, and food, bring along speakers and chairs and tents, camp out in the lawn of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Horse and have the absolute time of their lives. Now, with the Official Preakness Stakes Android App, they can officially recognize there is a horse race going on.

I know they’re iPhone screencaps but the Android version is coming soon and after reading the description, I actually thought it was pretty cool and look forward to more sporting events and concerts doing the same:

One feature that’s pretty cool is the event schedule, which seems to integrate with your phone’s camera and allows you to post to Twitter and Facebook. It’ll be a useful tool to have handy for those who are spending the day at Preakness, on May 21st. Also, the detailed map of Pimlico is another good feature.

And for non-expert bettors (like me) who’ve never wagered at a racetrack before, I also like the “What to say at the window.” Also, the explanation of the types of wagers is super-helpful for us novices. I always wondered what an “Exacta” was.

By the way, the city no longer allows entry of alcoholic beverages into the racetrack.

[Via BaltimoreSun]