Maryland Officials Consider Moving Preakness Stakes to 3 Weeks After Kentucky Derby
Officials say an extra week could lure more Derby winners and help boost viewership and attendance, which last year fell 60% below pre-pandemic levels.
- Maryland officials are considering shifting the Preakness Stakes from two weeks to three weeks after the Kentucky Derby, aiming to address the frequent absence of Triple Crown contenders.
- Current scheduling discourages owners from entering Derby winners, including Golden Tempo this year, forcing the Preakness to run without a Triple Crown contender for the sixth time in eight years.
- Trainers like Chad Brown, five-time Eclipse Award-winner, emphasize horse longevity, saying the industry must "take a step back and look at what's best—even if it's an uncomfortable change."
- Maryland Jockey Club president and general manager Bill Knauf is negotiating media rights while the club takes control next year, with implementation of any new strategy expected by 2027.
- Whether a single additional week can restore the Triple Crown's luster remains uncertain as industry leaders debate if incremental adjustments will solve long-standing participation concerns.
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21 Articles
Preakness could move later, to 3 weeks after the Kentucky Derby. That might not be enough
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Preakness could soon move later, to 3 weeks after the Kentucky Derby. That might not be enough
Maryland officials are considering changes that could impact the Triple Crown schedule by moving the Preakness Stakes to three weeks after the Kentucky Derby.
Preakness 2026: Move to Laurel one of many race changes over the decades
With new racing leadership in Maryland and Pimlico Race Course in the process of being rebuilt, this Saturday's Preakness Stakes will be contested at Laurel Park, some 30 miles southwest of its traditional home in Baltimore. Change was also a constant in the early years of the current middle jewel of the Triple Crown, which will now have been contested at four different tracks, under different conditions, and on different dates.
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