Attorneys for the owner of Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore have asked a judge to throw out a lawsuit by the city that seeks to obtain ownership of the track and its signature race, the Preakness Stakes. The motion to dismiss, filed by an attorney for Pimlico’s owner, The Stronach Group, states that the city has no right to condemn the track, due in part to existing state regulations that grant the power of regulation and control over horse racing to the state of Maryland. “Under state law, the city [of Baltimore] has no right to confiscate the privately held assets of the Maryland Jockey Club,” attorney Alan Rifkin said in a statement. Baltimore’s City Council filed the lawsuit earlier this year as the city and The Stronach Group became embroiled in a dispute over the future of the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the Triple Crown. Officials for The Stronach Group have said the company eventually plans to move the Preakness to another Maryland track, Laurel Park, due to the deteriorating condition of the Pimlico grandstand. Company officials have also said they have no plans to dedicate substantial funding to renovate the track. “It is disconcerting that the city is attempting to confiscate the Maryland Jockey Club’s private property and assets because we have raised legitimate questions as to whether the Maryland racing industry can sustain two sprawling and capital-intensive racetracks less than 20 miles apart from one another,” Tim Ritvo, a top company official, in a statement. In 1987, Maryland’s state legislature passed a law that requires the Preakness to be run at Pimlico except in the case of “a disaster or emergency.” That law, which many consider unenforceable, was passed three years after the Baltimore Colts NFL football team relocated to Indianapolis.