BALTIMORE Ten hours before post time in the Preakness, trainer Billy Gowan was enjoying a lovely morning outside the stakes barn at Pimlico Race Course.

Gowan had already done just about everything to prepare his horse, Ride On Curlin, for the middle jewel of the Triple Crown. So he soaked up a cool breeze under a clear blue sky.

“My horse looks awesome,” Gowan said Saturday morning. “My horse is training awesome, and I expect him to run huge, I really do.”

This was Gowan’s first Preakness, and he was having a great week. The only thing that would make it better, of course, was ending up in the winner’s circle.

“In all honesty, these people here, they treat you better than anyplace I’ve been,” he said.

Pimlico opened for business in 1870, and some of the rickety barns look as though they’re from that era. Old Hilltop may not be pretty, but it’s good enough to host one of the most important events in horse racing.

“They have the facilities to handle it, but what I like best about anything is that track surface,” Gowan said. “That’s a great surface they have out there.”

Ride On Curlin finished seventh in the Kentucky Derby after breaking from the 19th post, and in the Preakness he was slated to start outside at No. 10. That did nothing to deter Gowan’s optimism.

“I like it,” he said. “You can sit out there and pick your spot, save a little ground. If we get a good trip, I think he can run huge.”

Party time

Rosie Napravnik’s many friends in Maryland intended to party into the wee hours if the local favorite won aboard Bayern in the Preakness.

“Oh my gosh, I would get so excited I could barely stand it,” said Holly Robinson, a Maryland-based trainer who showed Napravnik some of the skills necessary to become a jockey.

“Seeing her ride elsewhere, I don’t think I could stand it if she won the Preakness,” Robinson said. “She’s got such a following, and she’s been very loyal to Maryland people. We love her and we’re so proud of where she’s gone.”

Napravnik grew up in New Jersey, but her racing career was born in Maryland.

“This is my favorite weekend because I get to come home and see everybody,” Napravnik said. “In the past two years I’ve been riding in big races and everybody’s cheering us on. There’s no better feeling than that, knowing everybody’s rooting for you. I don’t get that feeling anyplace else.”

Black eye

The official drink of the Preakness is the Black-Eyed Susan, which won’t ever garner the acclaim that the mint julep receives at the Kentucky Derby.

The Black-Eyed Susan consists of vodka, St. Germain, lime juice, pineapple juice and orange juice.

Well, that’s the recipe on preakness.com. There are other ways to make it, but about the best part of the drink — which costs $9 at the track — is the souvenir glass.

Listed is every winner of the Preakness, from 1873 to present. Next to 2014: a question mark.

Vendors on Saturday spilled the drink into a plastic cup for customers and gave them a clean glass to save.

Eleanor Anaclerio, 23, had never tasted the drink before giving it a whirl at her first Preakness.

“Very good,” she said after the first sip. “It’s all about tradition, although getting the glass is part of it.”