Preakness Captured Through Lens of John Shapiro Jr.

John Shapiro Jr. has worked in racing in Maryland since he was a boy. (Photos courtesy of Julie June Stewart)
When one enters the press box on the fourth floor of Pimlico Race Course, there is a beautiful, oak arts-and-crafts bench upholstered in fine leather. A dapper senior citizen sits there between races, and I notice that the turf writers all greet him. He is stylish in his slacks, navy blazer with three gold buttons on the sleeves and leather loafers. A friend brings him a diet soda between races, and he sits quietly watching the monitor and checking the minutes between the races.
John Shapiro Jr. is a retired camera man at Pimlico who comes back to work two days a year for the Black-Eyed Susan and Preakness Stakes. He was born into a racing family on New Year’s Eve in 1940. His grandfather Morris Shapiro was a successful Latvian immigrant who made his fortune in the scrap metal business and became president of the Boston Iron and Metal Co. He purchased Laurel Park in 1950 and gave it to his son John David Shapiro to run. This was where Shapiro Jr. had his first job. His dad put him to work at the track when he was in the eighth grade.
Shapiro Jr. and his brother Michael each had a pony (Thunder and Lightning) that were stabled at Folly Quarters Farm in Maryland, which was owned by their grandparents. (“Folly” was a colonial expression used for a hillside residence shaded by many trees.) Yet Shapiro's very first memory of horses is at the track.
He has many wonderful recollections of Laurel Park. It was where he learned how to run a camera. This was when cameras used film which had to be developed on site. He was also taught to run the “message board” at Laurel which was set up by hand and used to communicate the prices of exactas, etc.
SHAPIRO IN THE PRESS BOX

Shapiro is very proud of his father’s accomplishments at Laurel Park and remembers the famous D.C. International Stakes fondly. The Washington, D.C. International was a top-level turf race from 1952 to 1994. His dad was a visionary who attracted champion turf horses from Europe and America to come race. This was long before the Breeders’ Cup was established. Luminaries such as Winston Churchill and Queen Elizabeth II attended. He rattles off the name of the inaugural winner of the D.C. International (the English-bred horse Wilwyn) as if the race was yesterday.
The D.C. International in 1958 established a track record for attendance at Laurel Park with 40,276 in attendance. Elizabeth Taylor presented the trophy in the winner’s circle for the 1976 D.C. International. The newspaper reported that while making the walk, she stopped to fix her hair – twice! 
Shapiro began working for Film Patrol in the 1950s. Film Patrol provided replays to racing officials. He was working at the track in Charles Town, W.V. as a film editor and processed the film, splicing it for review by the stewards. The biggest change he saw in his career was in technological advances, especially when there was a switched from film to tape in 1969.
He went to work for International Sound Co., a major company in horse racing that provided broadcasting services, security and surveillance systems. He enjoys many happy memories of working at Pimlico, including three legendary Preakness Stakes. His eyes light up as he remembers Secretariat’s Preakness win in 1973. 
SHAPIRO'S VIEW OF PIMLICO

He also remembers how much fun it was when the Argentinians showed up at the track to cheer on the Derby winner Canonero II from Venezuela in 1971. He beams with Maryland pride when he describes Bee Bee Bee’s Preakness in 1972, defeating Kentucky Derby winner Riva Ridge. It was pouring rain that day. He said the crowd was delighted that a local Maryland horse ran in the slop and won.
In addition to the Preakness Stakes, there is a single horse that Shapiro remembers fondly. Steel Viking was a Massachusetts-bred horse who caught his eye as a talented 2-year-old in 1962. He remembers that he would “put five or ten dollars on him every weekend and win.” Shapiro knew a good thing when he saw it as Steel Viking ran 99 times in his career from 1962 to 1967 and finished in the money 61 times! 
Shapiro also worked for the Baltimore Colts “before they left town,” he said wistfully. He was in the press box above the 50-yard-line. He would also film at the training camp. His film would be used for coaches’ reviews. He would stay up all night developing the film and then drop it off at the coach’s house in the morning. Then he would head to the racetrack and film nine races.
It wasn’t easy. There was a camera operator inside every steward’s tower. Shapiro was positioned at the three-quarter pole and had to climb a 60-foot ladder to get to his station. He retired 10 years ago, but the Preakness and the camaraderie of horse racing still beckon him to Pimlico twice a year. 
Before he retired, Shapiro also “ran the press box,” meaning he kept everyone in the press box accommodated with food and drink. Today, Duane Rigby provides the same services and says, “John was the guy! He took care of everyone.” He trained Rigby and they worked together for four years. Rigby says, “John is a great guy and easy to work with. You could never say a bad word about him because he was always good to me. He is still my friend today.”
They worked together during the legendary blackout at Pimlico in 1998. A transformer went out and the track was largely without electricity until the ninth race. No air conditioning (with temperatures in the 90s), no working lights and no elevator. Shapiro and Rigby managed to get the food and drinks delivered to the needy reporters up four flights of stairs. Rigby said it was miserable conditions. There were 91,122 fans in attendance that day and many couldn’t bet because the computers were also down.
Eclipse Award winner and local turf writer John Scheinman of Maryland says, “Johnny's arrival in the press box to work his camera Preakness weekend is a part of the whole experience. People who like tradition and continuity care about stuff like that. It's Preakness and you expect him to be there. He loves coming back and we love having him here!”
Today Shapiro is running a Hitachi camera in a little four foot-by-four foot enclosure on the press box catwalk. He arrives early in the morning to warm up the camera. Then he positions the camera view on the turf so as to not burn up the tubes. There are live camera operators in every tower around the track for Black-Eyed Susan and Preakness Stakes days. Everybody shoots the entire race and that footage is what the stewards see when there is an inquiry or an objection. If it rains, Shapiro is in the elements and tries to protect his camera.
SHAPIRO AT WORK

He takes his position above the track and positions his camera. A weather-beaten piece of duct tape is loose and flying in the camera’s view. He reaches forward in an attempt to tack it down despite it having lost its stickiness years ago. The air is filled with the throbbing beat of the various bands in the infield creating cacophony in the air, but Shapiro is oblivious to the noise. Several birds are soaring by his side but do not interfere with his camera shot. He readies his camera and aims it at the starting gate. As the horses charge down the stretch, he quietly and calmly keeps his camera on the field. As the crowd roars above the track announcer, he catches the finish and repositions for the next race.
There will be more than 100,000 people at the track for the Preakness. Yet high above them Shapiro is quietly doing his job. They won’t see the distinguished gentleman, who dresses up in his suit and tie for Preakness day. After working his two days a year, he will return to a well-deserved life of retirement where he pursues his love of bowling. But horse racing will always beckon him. He says, “I still get involved with it. I know I have a job to do and I love doing it!”