Preakness counters premature report that race could be moved back a week

After reports circulated earlier this week that the Preakness Stakes is “set” to move its date back one week starting next year, creating a three-week gap between itself and the first leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown, the Kentucky Derby, it appears that the move is not yet set in stone.

Maryland Jockey Club president Bill Knauf denied the report, first published by Sports Business Journal, telling horse racing publication BloodHorse that the event organizers “are exploring all possibilities for dates and who will be our business partners.” The news comes as the Preakness enters active negotiations for a new media rights deal beginning in 2027.

In recent years, the Preakness has lost much of its luster. Its traditional date falls two weeks after the Kentucky Derby, and as the sport of horse racing modernizes, fewer trainers are willing to run their horses in both the Derby and the Preakness, leading to weak fields for the second leg of the Triple Crown.

Both NBC, which currently owns broadcast rights for the Preakness, and Fox, the other reported suitor which owns the third leg of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes, would undoubtedly welcome a change in schedule to accommodate a stronger field of horses. Last year’s Preakness hit a 30-year viewership low as Derby winner Sovereignty skipped the race altogether. Only twice in the past 17 years have the top-three Derby finishers all participated in the Preakness.

Any potential shift back would likely require the Belmont Stakes to do the same, otherwise the final leg of the Triple Crown would run into the same two-week gap plaguing the Preakness.

“The [media rights] process has been slowed by coordinating schedules,” Knauf told BloodHorse. “We would love to have our media partner in place by this year’s Preakness but I don’t know if we will be able to stay on that course.”

While nothing is official, it does seem inevitable that the Preakness and Belmont will reconfigure their schedules to ensure the best horses are available for each race. Without doing so, both races risk further diminishing their importance and, in turn, the value of their broadcast rights.