Sweeping changes to horse racing may change the way the Triple Crown will be viewed forever.
Last week, Churchill Downs Incorporated and the New York Racing Association announced a six-race championship series that includes the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes, the Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs in Louisville in July, and the Jim Dandy and the Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course later in the summer. It is also scheduled to have a championship race at Churchill Downs in September ahead of the Breeders' Cup in the fall, which in 2027 is set to take place at Belmont Park on Long Island.
However, one of those Triple Crown races will change its usual spot on the calendar in an effort to improve attendance, which has severely dwindled in recent years.
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After back-to-back Kentucky Derby winners did not race in the Preakness Stakes, the 2027 race will be run three weeks and a day after the Derby, instead of its usual two-week gap after the Derby.
This means that a Triple Crown race will be run on a Sunday for the first time ever. The Preakness will go off on May 23, 2027, 22 days after the Kentucky Derby on May 1, 2027.
The shift marks a major change on the horse racing calendar after three-quarters of a century during which the Preakness took place two weeks to the day after the Derby was run on the first Saturday in May, with the lone exception of 2020 because of the pandemic.
Maryland Jockey Club CEO Bill Knauf acknowledged the tradition while also calling this the time to move the Preakness back.
"It’s been discussed for a very long time (and) we recognized the different trends and training methods recently," Knauf told The Associated Press. "We entered the discussion maybe even saying, 'Hey, is two weeks the right amount? I think the week was the right placement. It still gives an incredible test for a horse and a champion to go through that, even at three weeks."
The aim is to get more Derby horses to participate in the second leg of the Triple Crown. For decades, that was the norm, but it has become increasingly rare in recent years. Two consecutive and three of the past five Derby winners have bypassed the Preakness to aim for the final jewel, the Belmont Stakes, in June. Of the 95 horses who ran in the Derby dating back to 2022, just 13 have gone to the Preakness (13.7%), with just one winner in that group.
Golden Tempo won the Derby, skipped the Preakness, then won the Belmont Stakes earlier this year.
For at least one year, it will mean just a 13-day gap between the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes. But one could speculate that it would be difficult to skip the final leg of the Triple Crown if everything is on the line.
The aforementioned six-race championship series, which does not include the Preakness Stakes, will have a $5 million prize pool and will begin in 2027.
"This series is designed to showcase the sport’s best 3-year-olds across a season-long championship, elevating our biggest events and creating the next generation of fans," NYRA President and CEO David O’Rourke 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," Churchill Downs Inc. CEO Bill Carstanjen said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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