In a move that could prompt more horses to shoot for the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes probably will move back one week on the calendar beginning next year, Sports Business Journal reported on Monday.
The Triple Crown jewel at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore has been held two weeks after the Kentucky Derby for the past 75 years — the third Saturday in May.
However, possibly due to the quick turnaround between two of the sports’ biggest races, the Kentucky Derby winners in 2022 (Rich Strike) and 2025 (Sovereignty) passed on running the Preakness and instead focused on the third Triple Crown race, the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.
Rich Strike came in sixth in the Belmont. Three years later, Sovereignty prevailed in the Belmont.
Per the report, the date change is being floated as part of media-rights negotiations. NBC Sports holds the Preakness rights through this year, with NBC, Fox Sports, Amazon and Netflix all vying for the future deal, per SBJ.
Whether the Belmont also would change its date from three weeks after the Preakness is also up in the air pending future media contracts, according to the report.
Fox, the rights holder for the next six runnings of the Belmont, would prefer to have three weeks between each of the Triple Crown races, SBJ reported.
The Preakness Stakes, first contested in 1873, is run over 1 3/16 miles. The Kentucky Derby is 1 1/4 miles, and the Belmont caps the Triple Crown at the length of 1 1/2 miles.
For the first time in the race’s history, the 2026 Preakness Stakes will be held at Laurel Park (Md.), due to construction at Pimlico. The 151st running will take place on Saturday, May 16.
–Field Level Media
