Chick Lang, Pimlico GM, dies

Charles John "Chick" Lang, a longtime general manager of the Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore who tirelessly promoted the Preakness, elevating it to the top tier of horse-racing events, died Thursday, according to the Baltimore Sun. He was 83.

Mr. Lang became general manager at Pimlico in 1969 and two years later convinced the race track's owners to open the infield to merrymakers, a la the Kentucky Derby's Churchill Downs. He marketed the Maryland race year-round, especially at the Derby, where he showed up with "Next Stop Preakness" signs and once floated hundreds of yellow and black balloons.