In another potential blow to the prestige of the Preakness Stakes, the second jewel of the Triple Crown will be excluded from a new $5 million “Thoroughbred Championship Series” that includes both the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes.
The announcement of the new six-race series, which will begin in 2027 with an aim to “establish an annual season-long championship for America’s leading three-year-old thoroughbreds,” comes less than two months after Gov. Wes Moore’s administration blocked Churchill Downs’ $85 million bid to purchase intellectual property rights for the Preakness. The state had the right to match the offer and opted to take control of its signature race rather than let the operator of the Kentucky Derby buy a stake.
Now, the state finds itself the odd man out as Kentucky and New York racing officials attempt to reshape the racing calendar to highlight their biggest events.
A spokesman for the Maryland Jockey Club, which operates the Preakness, declined immediate comment on the new series, saying Jockey Club officials had just learned of the plan Monday morning.
“I think it’s fair to say this will have major implications for the industry and the importance of the Triple Crown as its coveted brand,” said Alan Foreman, longtime general counsel to the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association. “It’s going to force the owners of the elite horses to choose between the Triple Crown and a series that pays substantial dollars throughout the season. I think it’s a shame that it’s being done to the exclusion of the Preakness.”
Katy Voss, a longtime Howard County-based trainer and breeder and president of the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, noted that the new series won’t just impact the Preakness, but also the biggest summer races in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
“The horse industry in general has its challenges,” Voss said. “But for the big guys to gang up on the little guys, it’s kind of counterproductive.”
On a Monday afternoon call with reporters, New York Racing Association CEO David O’Rourke said he does not see the new series competing with the Triple Crown. “This builds on top of the Triple Crown or alongside it,” he said, arguing that a longer, unified 3-year-old season will draw fans accustomed to such formats in other sports.
When asked if NYRA and Churchill officials had engaged or would engage with Maryland officials on adding the Preakness to the series, O’Rourke replied: “We wanted to get the foundation set, and working with the two parties, we could structure the six races book ending the entire thing. Essentially, today we’re announcing this, so now we’re open for some conversations.”
NBC analyst Randy Moss has long said the Triple Crown is in peril unless Kentucky, Maryland and New York officials collaborate on an extended calendar. He stopped short of calling the new series — which NBC will broadcast along with Fox — a blow to that effort, but said it does nothing to address the core problem.
“I think the formation of any series that has the possibility of increasing public interest is a good thing,” Moss said. “As long as it doesn’t come at the expense of the Triple Crown, which is still the biggest property in racing, the priority has to be fixing the Triple Crown.”
The Preakness already faced questions of diminished prestige because of its place in the middle of a Triple Crown calendar that no longer suits the habits of most leading trainers.
The last two Kentucky Derby winners, Sovereignty and Golden Tempo, have skipped the Preakness, with their trainers opting to take five weeks to prepare for the Belmont (which both horses won). Their absences left the Preakness without its classic narrative hook and led many observers to argue that the Triple Crown could face extinction if the calendar is not stretched out.
The announcement of the new series, which will include the Derby, the Belmont, the Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs in July, the Jim Dandy and Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in July and August, and a new championship race at Churchill in September, could cement notions of the Preakness as a second-class race.
“The Kentucky Derby introduces millions of fans to a new generation of Thoroughbred stars each year, and this series gives those fans a reason to stay engaged with the sport’s biggest stars throughout the season,” Churchill CEO Bill Carstanjen said in a statement. “By connecting these premier events through one championship, we’re creating a season-long storyline that benefits the future of Thoroughbred racing.”
When the Moore administration announced it would match Churchill’s bid for the Preakness rights, the governor said in a letter that he hoped the state could work with the Kentucky-based company to “unlock growth and drive innovation to benefit the Preakness Stakes, Maryland’s horseracing industry, and the entire Triple Crown.”
Carstanjen echoed Moore’s words in a statement: “We remain committed to working with the Governor and other elected leaders and horse racing constituents in Maryland to fully realize the potential of a redeveloped Pimlico and Preakness Stakes within the Triple Crown and the broader sports and entertainment landscape.”
Now, the Preakness, and by extension the Triple Crown, will not be part of the “season-long storyline” Carstanjen and the NYRA are concocting.
Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who conditioned the last two Triple Crown winners in American Pharoah and Justify, posted a statement on X saying he welcomed the new series, but winning the Triple Crown will always be “the greatest achievement in racing.”
“The Preakness is integral to racing’s history, present, and future, and I hope nothing detracts from its significance,” he wrote. “If I have the right horse, I’ll continue to run in Baltimore every May, as well as in The Thoroughbred Series.”
