Two big changes in horse racing unveiled this week create more questions than answers about the future of the sport's most recognizable product, the Triple Crown. The Preakness Stakes is moving to three weeks and a day after the Kentucky Derby in the hopes of getting more horses to run in each of the first two Triple Crown races. For at least one year, that creates just a 13-day gap before the Belmont Stakes and makes it even more likely owners and trainers skip the Preakness. A new championship series for 3-year-olds also includes the Derby and Belmont but leaves out the Preakness in 2027.
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The Preakness Stakes is moving to three weeks and a day after the Kentucky Derby to be run on a Sunday for the first time. No Triple Crown race has ever been run on a Sunday in the history of the series. The shift marks a major change on the horse racing calendar after three-quarters of a century of the Preakness taking place two weeks to the day after the Derby is run on the first Saturday in May, with the lone exception of 2020 because of the pandemic. For at least one year, it will mean just a 13-day gap between the Preakness and Belmont Stakes.
Preakness is moving to three weeks and a day after the Kentucky Derby, to be run on Sunday for the first time.
Former jockey Robby Albarado, who won the Preakness twice, has died at age 52. A spokesperson for Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, said the track was informed of Albarado’s death by multiple friends and family members. Albarado was hospitalized in recent days for a procedure to insert a stent to alleviate a blockage near his heart. He rode Curlin in 2007 and Swiss Skydiver in 2020 to victory in the second jewel of the Triple Crown. Albarado also has three Breeders’ Cup wins, including aboard Curlin in the Classic in ’07.
The date of the 2027 Preakness Stakes is set to be revealed on Wednesday by Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and the Maryland Jockey Club. There has been speculation about the Preakness moving from two to three weeks after the Kentucky Derby to get more horses from the Triple Crown opener to run in the second leg. But the Belmont Stakes staying on the first Saturday in June for next year could extend the troubles of the condensed calendar. The Preakness in 2027 is set to return to its traditional home at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.
Preakness Stakes winner Journalism has been retired after suffering an injury before last weekend's San Diego Handicap, his owners announced Friday.
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The track announced Thursday that it was notified by the State of Maryland that it was the state's intention to exercise its rights to acquire the Preakness' intellectual property, including all trademarks and associated rights.
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Napoleon Solo spent much of Saturday afternoon staring down the hometown horse.
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Another major contender is out of the Preakness Stakes.
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The Louisville company would own the intellectual property to horse racing’s second Triple Crown jewel.