Preakness Moves to Sunday, Adds Week After Derby
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- The Preakness Stakes is shifting to three weeks and one day after the Kentucky Derby and will be run on a Sunday for the first time — no Triple Crown race has ever been held on a Sunday in the century-plus history of the series.
- Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and the Maryland Jockey Club announced the move Wednesday, with MJC CEO Bill Knauf saying the extra week "opens the Preakness to potential participants who use modern training methods."
- Only 13 of 95 Kentucky Derby horses (13.7%) have run in the Preakness since 2022, with just one winner in that group — the steep participation decline that drove the schedule overhaul.
- Bob Baffert, the only trainer to win the Triple Crown since 1978, said on social media he'll keep running Derby horses in the Preakness annually if he has the right one — a direct response to a new championship series at Churchill Downs, Belmont Park and Saratoga that does not include the Preakness.
- The compressed 13-day gap between the Preakness and Belmont Stakes (scheduled for June 5) could force owners and trainers to choose between the two legs, since modern 3-year-old thoroughbreds typically need significantly more recovery time.
- NBC Sports extended its media rights deal through 2032, with the Preakness and Black-Eyed Susan Stakes airing on NBC and Peacock for the next six years.
- A $500 million reconstruction of Pimlico Race Course is underway, with the full new facility expected by spring 2028; the Preakness will run next year at Laurel Park in a limited capacity before returning home.
Why it matters: Adding the extra week addresses the steep drop in Derby-to-Preakness participation — just 13.7% of Derby runners since 2022 continued to Baltimore. But the compressed 13-day turnaround before the Belmont Stakes (scheduled for June 5) could push the squeeze one step down the Triple Crown calendar, forcing trainers to pick between the final two legs instead.
