I've always been told, and had always read, that Pimlico has tighter turns than most major tracks, including Churchill Downs. Thanks to Google Earth, it's pretty easy to verify whether or not this is true.
The turns aren't significantly tighter. The above image looks like one oval, but actually it's Churchill Downs made semi-transparent and laid over the track at Pimlico. Why do you only see one oval? The tracks overlap nearly perfectly, with both images taken at 4.0km altitude and reorientied to be straight up and down.
As far as I'm concerned, this myth is put to bed. Even if the Pimlico turns are slightly tighter, it's barely noticeable from just a couple miles up. Considering the circumference of both tracks, there is no way a horse or jockey could perceive the difference. I suspect the myth comes from the fact that the track itself isn't as wide in the turns at Pimlico, probably because the surrounding streets are within feet of the track. Of course, if your horse is running on the far outside of the track, you're doing it wrong.
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