Preakness moves back 8 days in bid to revive Triple Crown

The Preakness Stakes is moving back one week in a major attempt to preserve the relevance of horse racing’s traditional Triple Crown.

The Maryland Jockey Club announced that the Preakness will move back eight days, while the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes will also be pushed back eight days and will be run on Saturday.

The move will push the Preakness to three weeks after the Kentucky Derby, beginning in 2027.

The announcement also confirmed the Preakness’s previously reported media rights extension with NBC Sports, which will last for six years. According to Sports Business Journal, the deal will see the Preakness double its media revenue from its current agreement with NBC.

“The Maryland Jockey Club is thrilled to continue its long-standing partnership with NBC Sports for the Preakness Stakes. We believe that moving the Preakness to the fourth Sunday in May and showcasing the excellent Black-Eyed Susan Stakes card on Saturday will transform the weekend for horsemen, bettors, and racing fans alike,” said Maryland Jockey Club CEO Bill Knauf.

The Preakness, which has been run two weeks after the Kentucky Derby since 1950, has seen its relevance decline in recent years. In the last five years, according to SBJ, 88% of Derby runners have skipped the Preakness. NBC’s audience for the Preakness hasn’t eclipsed 7 million viewers since 2021, a mark the race had surpassed every year for at least the previous 20 years.

Seemingly sensing blood in the water, the NYRA, which operates the Belmont Stakes, and Churchill Downs Incorporated announced a new six-race Thoroughbred Championship Series intended to become the premier horse racing series in the United States. That announcement, which includes the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, excluded the Preakness.

This announcement from the Preakness doesn’t seem to solve horse racing’s problem fully. While there is now a three-week gap between the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, there is now only a 13-day gap between the Preakness and the Belmont.

In theory, for the same reasons as before, plus the added benefit of the new Championship Series, trainers could still elect to skip the Preakness because of the short gap between races.

That could be solved if the Belmont were also moved back a week, but that would seem unlikely. The Thoroughbred Championship Series announcement suggests the Belmont is staying put, at least for now, and will run, as usual, on June 5. The announcement included that date but did not specify exact dates for the four other non-Triple Crown races.