The most noticeable changes at Pimlico Race Course, which begins a 12-day meet Thursday, will benefit those Preakness attendees who use electronic devices – just about everyone – and the infield-bound. Last year’s Preakness drew an announced crowd of 140,327. That takes a lot of bandwidth. To assure everyone’s phones and tablets are functioning, The Stronach Group has spent $1.5 million to supercharge the wifi at Old Hilltop, according to Sal Sinatra, president of the Maryland Jockey Club. “Everyone in the infield and grandstand will have free wifi,” he said. The Preakness Village facilities and concert grounds in the infield also have been upgraded. :: Get the Preakness All-Access package for just $29.95 Sinatra said there will be no more “flopping tents” in the infield, that all of the facilities now are “hard structures.” This will allow those taking in the races from the infield to have better sight lines and be more comfortable, especially if the weather turns bad. Sinatra said the musical acts will perform on a “megastage,” which will be 60 feet high and include a state-of-the art light show. There will be one stage this year, instead of two. Entertainment will be non-stop from about 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. “The infield has been redesigned,” Sinatra said. “We want people to have a better experience. We’ve tried to unclutter the infield so people have a better view of the races.” In addition to the 143rd Preakness, the May 19 card also will include seven undercard stakes, including the Grade 2, $250,000 Dixie, the Grade 3, $150,000 Maryland Sprint, and the Grade 3, $150,000 Gallorette. The preceding card on Friday, May 18, will be topped by the Grade 2, Black-Eyed Susan and the Grade 3, $300,000 Pimlico Special. The five other stakes include the Grade 3, $150,000 Miss Preakness and the Grade 3, $150,000 Allaire Du Pont Distaff. The Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championships, or MATCH, a series of 25 races that will be run in the region this summer for the first time in 16 years, will begin with four races at Pimlico on May 18-19. The Jim McKay Turf Sprint, on Friday, and The Very One, for fillies and mares on Saturday, are the first of five legs in the turf sprint division. The Maryland Sprint, on Saturday, and the Skipat, for fillies and mares on Friday, will kick off the dirt sprint division. The $100,000 trainer bonus for horsemen running horses in stakes Friday and Saturday will be offered again this year. Trainers will accrue points based on their horses’ finishes. The top six trainers will receive bonuses, with $50,000 going to the winner. New this year is a $50,000 trainer bonus for non-stakes races, with the top six earning awards and the winner receiving $25,000. “Of course, I’d like it to help field size,” Sinatra said. “But it’s also something the local guys have a shot at. I’d love to hand checks to some of our local trainers.” Racing at Pimlico will be held on a Thursday-through-Sunday basis. Closing day will be Memorial Day, which is Monday, May 28. The Pimlico season was 37 days in 2015, 28 days in 2016, and reduced to 12 days last year. The Pimlico turf course has not been used in close to a year. The inside part of the surface will be preserved until Black-Eyed Susan Day. “The turf is unbelievable,” Sinatra said. :: DRF TOURNAMENTS: Sign up now for Friday's Outplay JK event! Prizes include credits and a $458 entry into Saturday's World Horseplayers' Tour TV Pilot/Santa Anita Preakness Challenge Vargas, Gonzalez win titles Jockey Jorge Vargas Jr. won his first riding title at the Laurel Park winter meet, which concluded Sunday. Vargas, 23, attended the Escuela Vocacional Hipica in his native Puerto Rico at the same time as Maryland riders Victor Carrasco and Jevian Toledo, and New York rider Manny Franco. Vargas has ridden successfully at Parx Racing since 2013. The Laurel meet, which began Jan. 1, was his first full season in Maryland. Apprentice Wes Hamilton and Vargas were tied going into the Saturday card, but Vargas won three races each of the last two days to win 52-46. Claudio Gonzalez won his third consecutive Maryland training title with 40 victories at the 60-day meet. He also won the 2017 fall and summer meets at Laurel. Gonzalez, 41, has won six meet training titles overall in Maryland and led the state in wins in 2017.