The National Thoroughbred League Kicks Off 3rd Season at Historic Pimlico With Record Attendance, Handle

More than 5,500 attended the NTL’s Pimlico Cup this past Saturday, including Maryland Colts co-owner Lamar Jackson and Maryland Governor Wes Moore. The day’s $3.9 million betting handle set an NTL record – a 30% jump over Pimlico’s results a year prior.

BALTIMORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, the National Thoroughbred League (NTL) reported that the opening event of its third season–the NTL Pimlico Cup generated record returns, both in terms of attendance and betting totals.

With a crowd of more than 5,500 on hand in support of Baltimore Community Day, in partnership with Lamar Jackson’s Forever Dreamers Foundation, Pimlico Race Course generated a $3.9 million handle, which outpaced the track’s year-over-year handle from the same race weekend by 30%. This event continued the “NTL Effect” of greatly increasing attendance and betting. At the 2024 championship event in Phoenix in December, the Turf Paradise track recorded $3.1 million in total bets – its biggest handle this century and the NTL’s biggest total to that date. The previous NTL attendance record was more than 4,500 at last year’s Philadelphia Cup.

“Our focus with the National Thoroughbred League is to build a compelling format of competitive races complemented by the collective experience of food, fashion, culture and community all geared towards the goal of standing up an event at a track that can attract a strong following and create more pathways for more fans to fall in love with this amazing sport,” said Randall Lane, Co-Founder of the National Thoroughbred League. “And while we’re certainly proud of the turnout we achieved at Pimlico, we’re even more thankful for everyone, especially Lamar Jackson and Governor Moore, who lent their time in support of the local community.”

Lamar Jackson, the two-time NFL MVP, hosted approximately 1,000 local children, for free, at the event, and presided over a kids race on the track with inflatable horses. Jackson and Moore also joined forces to make the traditional “Riders Up” call for jockeys.

The New York Knights took home The Pimlico Cup and now sit atop the standings for the 2025 season, led by Knights second round draft pick Addy’s Laddy T N T, who won the first of three NTL races (each worth $75,000 in purse money). The Nashville Dreams, led by King’s River, and the Miami Thunderbolts, competing with Cactus, won the following races.

The next chance to see the league in action comes this Father’s Day Weekend (June 14-15) for the “NTL Ultimate Sports Weekend” where two-time Hall of Famer and Philadelphia Stallions lead owner, Julius “Dr. J” Erving, along with a dozen Philadelphia Eagles legends, will be participating in a golf invitational at Middletown Country Club on Saturday, June 14th followed by the NTL’s Philadelphia Cup event at Parx Racing in Bensalem, PA on Sunday, June 15th.

For more information, please visit www.NTL.Racing.

About National Thoroughbred League

The National Thoroughbred League (NTL) is a first-of-its-kind racing league reimagining America’s oldest spectator sport by creating a team-based professional sports league, by consistently and safely running exceptional horses allowing fans the chance to root for the same stars month after month and year after year. The NTL is also a lifestyle, creating weekends of food, fashion and fun akin to the Kentucky Derby or Formula I.