Having spent his lifetime in Thoroughbred racing, Charles John "Chick" Lang remains what he has always been: a born optimist, passionate and true-blue supporter of the Triple Crown series first, last, and always, and racing's most outspoken ambassador-bar none.

Chick Lang Jr.
Birthdate: October 8, 1926
Birthplace: Baltimore, Maryland
Residence: Easton, Maryland
Family: John P. Mayberry (grandfather, trainer of 1903 Kentucky Derby winner Judge Himes); Charles "Chick" Lang (father, jockey of 1928 Kentucky Derby winner Reigh Count); Charles Robert "Chickie" (son, racing executive, now deceased); Bart Lang (grandson, racing official, Lone Star Park); Deborah (daughter)
Past, present positions: Groom, hotwalker, trainer, jockey's agent, general manager and vice president (Pimlico Race Course), senior racing consultant (Lone Star Park), member of advisory board (Jockeys' Guild), racing analyst (WBAL Radio)
Founder: Co-founder of Maryland Million (1986), Triple Crown Productions Inc. (1985)
Awards: Certificate of Distinguished Citizenship of Maryland (three times), Joe Palmer Award (1980), Jockey Agents' Benevolent Association Man of the Year (1969)

While Lang has, at one time or another, performed just about every conceivable racing chore both frontside and backside, from groom to hotwalker to trainer to jockey's agent (five years for Bill Hartack), he is known far and wide to legions of friends and admirers as "Mr. Preakness."

There are several reasons why, and all are equally compelling. First, during Lang's administrative career at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore from 1960 to '87, most prominently as general manager, his passion and promotional genius dramatically increased the profile of Old Hilltop's signature event, the Preakness Stakes (G1), middle jewel of racing's Triple Crown.

Second, by opening Pimlico's infield on Preakness day and incorporating a host of related civic events, Lang etched the race forever into mainstream Maryland culture. And third, this year will mark the 65th consecutive Preakness that Lang will have witnessed, a streak that began in 1937 with eventual Triple Crown winner War Admiral.

Born in Baltimore in October 1926 not far from Pimlico, few people in racing can match Lang's pedigree. His maternal grandfather, John P. Mayberry, trained Judge Himes to win the 1903 Kentucky Derby. His father, Charles "Chick" Lang, accomplished every rider's dream when he rode Reigh Count (sire of '43 Triple Crown winner Count Fleet) to victory in the '28 Kentucky Derby.

Two related events in the 1980s would subsequently affect the direction of both Lang's career and the Triple Crown itself. In 1985, the connections of Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Spend a Buck bypassed the Preakness to run successfully for a purse and bonus totaling $1.6-million in the Jersey Derby (G3) in the newly rebuilt Garden State Park.

That slap, three years after 1982 Kentucky Derby winner Gato Del Sol bypassed Baltimore's showcase race for the Belmont Stakes (G1), served to alarm and energize a cadre of racing executives including Lang and Tom Meeker, then the new president of Churchill Downs.

Their solution was to create Triple Crown Productions Inc. to market the Derby, Preakness, and Belmont as an entity, and create a bonus for horses that ran in all three classics. Another wrinkle was a common nomination fee for all three races.

When Frank De Francis became Pimlico's new owner in 1987, Lang's departure just days after Alysheba's Preakness triumph surprised no one. But Lang has remained busy as a consultant and unofficial promoter of the Triple Crown. He is currently senior racing consultant to Lone Star Park, a member of the Jockeys' Guild advisory board, and a racing analyst for WBAL Radio in Baltimore.

His proudest boast, however, is that there have been five generations of Langs in racing. It began with his paternal grandfather, Charles Percival Lang, and continued with his father, the first of three with the nickname "Chick." The current Chick Lang is the median; the other two generations are represented by his late son, Charles Robert "Chickie" Lang, a talented racing executive, and grandson Bart Lang, currently a racing official at Lone Star Park.

Lang recently relished discussing his two favorite subjects-racing and the Triple Crown-with Reg Lansberry, an Atlanta-based contributing writer to Thoroughbred Times.

Thoroughbred Times: You have been around racing your entire life. What are some of your earliest memories around the racetrack?
Chick Lang: "Well, I'm 74 years old and when people ask me how long I've been in racing I tell them 74 years. Racing's in my genes, it's in my blood. I was born into racing, which I'm very proud of.
"My earliest memories are going out to the racetrack when I was 11 and walking hots for a dime or a quarter or whatever it might be. I was walking hots, selling newspapers, and, naturally, being the son of Chick Lang I guess I had some advantages."

TT: Who would be your first memorable horse?
Lang: "It would have to be War Admiral in 1937. The first great horse that I ever saw and the first of the eight Triple Crown winners I've seen. I would go out in the mornings to see him train, and he just looked like a big, black, shiny automobile. Wow, what a pretty horse! And I didn't know anything about conformation, but he just looked like what you thought a good horse should look like."

TT: When did you train, and who are some of the Racing Hall of Fame trainers you've known?
Lang: "I won with the first horse I ever saddled, Wiseshot at Hialeah in 1947. He won by eight or nine lengths when Hialeah was one of the top tracks in the country. It wasn't like it was one of those half-mile tracks.
"I've worked around, and been around, some of the great trainers such as Ben Jones and his son, Jimmy Jones. I worked with Calumet Farm for three or four years. I've watched and been friends with Max Hirsch, Buddy Hirsch, Hirsch Jacobs-I was very close friends with him-Preston and Elliott Burch, and Jack Van Berg and his dad, Marion.
"You learn something from each horseman. If a horse had a problem, you 'stop' on him, give him time, send him to the farm. With another horse, you might try to work with him. All in all, a high percentage of the horsemen today really have the feeling to be patient with a horse."

TT: What makes the Preakness so special?
Lang: "It's the first public appearance of the Kentucky Derby winner. And that's not to sound flip or smart. When the horses go to Louisville, they're all equal. But when the Derby winner comes to Pimlico, the second jewel in the Triple Crown, he's now part of racing history. I always said when I was younger, and I'd go to Churchill Downs, and it probably didn't sit too well, but I'd have a few bourbons with the hardboots there. And we'd get to drinking, and sure enough they'd talk about how the Preakness would never be the Kentucky Derby.
And I'd say, 'Well let me tell you something, pal. The greatest horse in the history of racing didn't run in the Derby, but he ran in and won the Preakness: Man o' War. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.'
"Those would be my bragging points at Pimlico with our board of directors, too. I'd try to convince them, about 40 years ago, to build a statue of Man o' War and put it right smack where everyone could see it. Because that (his 1920 Preakness victory) gave us bragging rights."

TT: What is the Preakness innovation that you are most proud of?
Lang: "It would have to be opening up the infield (on Preakness Stakes day). No question. I had that on my agenda for three or four years before I did it. The board of directors would keep turning me down until I finally told them