Gerry Brewster calls himself the "former tallest licensed jockey in the United States," and perhaps that square-peg-in-a-round-hole experience was ideal preparation for his current gig.
The 6'2" Brewster slimmed himself down to 155 pounds as a steeplechase jockey, riding four times in the four-mile, 22-fence Maryland Hunt Cup, billed as the toughest timber race in the world.
Nowadays, the onetime state legislator's pursuits aren't quite so physically demanding. As chairman of the board of directors of the Maryland State Fair and Agricultural Society, Brewster's portfolio includes overseeing the 10-day race meet at the Timonium Fairgrounds. While Timonium, which has been host to live racing since the 1800s, was once part of a thriving circuit of so-called "half-miler" tracks in Maryland—to say nothing of fair meets up and down the East Coast—today the Big T stands alone in both categories.
But Brewster is perfectly comfortable occupying a distinctive niche. Timonium, where racing takes place on a bullring track against a backdrop of Ferris wheels and Tilt-a-Whirls and the smell of corn dogs waft toward the aging grandstand, certainly does that. In more ways than one, in fact.
"Arguably, the past year has demonstrated more than ever how important our role is (in the state's racing industry)," Brewster argues.
When Laurel Park abruptly closed in mid-April to fix ongoing issues with the dirt track, it could have been an unqualified disaster for the industry. But through an agreement between the Maryland State Fair and Maryland Jockey Club, hundreds of horses were able to stay close to home at the Big T.
"That was critical to the Maryland horse racing industry," Brewster says. "Those (nearly) 600 horses, if they go out of state, some of them aren't going to come back."
While the horses will return to Laurel Park prior to the Aug. 27 kickoff of Timonium's 2021 race meet, Brewster and his fellow board members are hoping that having had these horses on the grounds pays dividends in the form of fuller fields on race days. Opening day at Timonium will mark a long-awaited return as COVID-19 restrictions prevented racing there, as well as the state fair, in 2020.
"There are three kinds of horses back there," Bill Marlow, chairman of the board's racing committee, says on a recent Sunday afternoon during the Maryland Horse Breeders Association yearling show, jerking his thumb back toward the racetrack. "Horses that love it here, horses that don't like it here, and horses that don't care either way. But the only way a trainer knows if a horse likes this track is to train over it."
The meet begins with a twilight card, starting at 3 p.m. Friday, Aug. 27. It continues that Saturday and Sunday and then the following Friday-Monday, Labor Day. The six remaining cards all start at 12:40 p.m.
The twilight card, the first at Timonium in recent memory, is one of the small innovations fans might notice in 2021. More apparent will be the new video board that replaces the decades-old toteboard in the Timonium infield.
And events, plenty of them, at a meet that can serve as an introduction to racing for the many fair attendees.
College Day on opening day, will see thousands of dollars of scholarships awarded. Aug. 29 features the 6 1/2-furlong Timonium Juvenile Stakes. Also on the docket that day will be inductions into the Maryland Thoroughbred Hall of Fame, which recognizes the best Thoroughbreds bred in the state.
And the Horseland exhibit, which introduces fair-goers to horses, racing, and their role in Maryland agriculture, will again return. All of that is in service of what folks at the Fair see as a core part of the mission of live racing at Timonium: fan engagement.
"That's the mission, and that's the problem we have," says Bill Reightler. "We've got to get more people, especially young people, interested in this sport."
Reightler, a longtime area horseman, serves as director of the race meet.
"Back in the '70s I used to train my dad's horses, and I can remember running here and winning races here and what really struck me, as far as the industry, is how popular the meet was among the fans," Reightler recalls. "One of our missions here is that we harvest for the industry as being a part of introducing potential new fans to the sport."
Timonium crowds typically number about 2,000, and unlike at many venues, most of those are there to watch the live product as opposed to wagering on simulcasts. Crowds often include families with young children and first-timers stopping by en route to the fair.
Back when Reightler, now a bloodstock agent, was training, Timonium played host to a 42-day summer meet. But in the mid-1980s, the Maryland State Fair gave up all but 10 of its days, which were redistributed among the so-called "mile tracks," Laurel, Pimlico, and at the time Bowie.
That began a long period in which Timonium was, Marlow says, "an afterthought." Purses were smaller than at the mile tracks; handle was much smaller. It wasn't quite clear what role Timonium should play. That's begun to change in recent years.
"Now we feel like we're an integral part of the Maryland racing industry," Reightler says.
The most recent evidence: the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association voted in July to give Timonium full "purse parity" with Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course. That'll raise daily average purses to $287,000 for the upcoming meet.
The highlight of the meet will be the first running of the Timonium Juvenile Stakes. The $75,000 base purse will be supplemented with up to $50,000 if the winner is Maryland-bred and Maryland-sired, making this potentially a $125,000 race.
Already there's evidence that the enhanced purses—and the presence of hundreds of horses on the grounds—may benefit the new race. The John Salzman Jr.-trained Local Motive ventured down to Colonial Downs Aug. 2 to win the Hickory Tree Stakes, but Salzman said afterwards that the gelding's next start would most likely be at the Big T. He is in the eight-horse field, carrying high weight of 122 pounds. The others will carry 116.
"He's Maryland-bred, Maryland-sired, and so that's my next spot that I'd look at with him," Salzman told The Racing Biz. "He loves it (at Timonium). He's been working good, real good there."
Wagering handle has been up significantly in recent years at Timonium. With daily average purses also on the rise, the former tallest jockey sees Timonium continuing to be an important part of the Maryland racing scene.
Brewster ticks off the elements of Timonium's involvement in the Thoroughbred industry—the Fasig-Tipton sales that take place there, the busy off-track wagering facility in the grandstand, the race meet that takes place during the state fair, and, of course, the barns that have played such a big role in 2021.
"There are things going on all year long here on the campus," he says. "We have an incredible location and hundreds of thousands of people seeing the racetrack, seeing the grandstand, and thinking about horse racing. We think we have a historic role to play, and a commitment to continue participating in the industry."
