LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The Preakness Stakes delivered a stirring finish on Saturday — but not a strong television rating.
With Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty skipping the second leg of the Triple Crown, NBC’s race segment averaged just 4.56 million viewers, its lowest Preakness audience since 1995, excluding the pandemic-disrupted 2020 edition.
That’s a 16% drop from last year, when Seize the Grey’s win over Derby winner Mystik Dan brought in 5.47 million viewers. The audience did peak at 5.9 million during this year’s race, but it’s clear that when a Triple Crown bid disappears, so does much of the viewing audience.
The Triple Crown isn’t just three races — it’s supposed to be one storyline. When that arc breaks after one chapter, it’s a tough sell. Even a compelling horse like Journalism, who could run in the Belmont Stakes as a primary challenger to Sovereignty, couldn’t move the needle. And not even Pimlico’s swan song before a major renovation could boost the buzz.
The Kentucky Derby's audience peaked at 21.8 million for the race segmented and the overall broadcast averaged 17.7 million viewers for NBC two weeks ago.
Alvarado could see crop fine reduced
The winning jockey in this year’s Kentucky Derby, Junior Alvarado, was hit with a $62,000 fine and two-day suspension for violating the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority’s riding crop rule — specifically, striking Sovereignty eight times, two over the six-strike limit.
But the size of that fine may not hold, according to BloodHorse.com. Alvarado has appealed, and under a pending HISA rule change, his prior violation — logged Dec. 1 — may fall outside a shortened repeat-offense window. If that rule is approved by the FTC, HISA CEO Lisa Lazurus says the body likely would impose the smaller fine.
According to HISA records, Alvarado has nine violations under its riding crop rules since 2022.
HISA report adds new detail to horse deaths, as training fatalities rise
For the first time, HISA has begun publicly classifying equine fatalities by cause — breaking them down into musculoskeletal injuries, sudden deaths, and other trauma — in an effort to better understand and prevent catastrophic injuries in horse racing.
The change was part of HISA’s latest quarterly safety report, which also showed a slight increase in training-related horse deaths during the first three months of 2025. A total of 51 horses died in training, up from 47 in the same period last year.
Despite new tools and expanding data, HISA continues to face challenges in analyzing training environments, which are harder to monitor, less standardized, and still responsible for a significant share of fatalities.
In Kentucky, nine training-related deaths were reported across four tracks, including Turfway Park, Keeneland, and the Churchill Downs Training Center.
Related Coverage:Â
BOZICH | No Triple Crown but plenty to debate: Journalism or Sovereignty in Belmont?
Journalism wins the Preakness two weeks after finishing 2nd in the Kentucky Derby
Junior Alvarado may appeal fine, suspension for excessive whip usage in Kentucky Derby
Jockey suspended, fined for striking Sovereignty too many times in Kentucky Derby 151 win
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