Preakness Stakes to shift 1 week later in May

For as long as anyone can remember, Baltimore’s Preakness Stakes thoroughbred horse race has been on the third Saturday in May.

Not any longer.

The Preakness will now be run on the fourth Sunday of May, part of a new vision and TV deal for the historic race that Gov. Wes Moore plans to announce Wednesday.

The Black-Eyed Susan Stakes, a race for 3-year-old fillies typically run the Friday before Preakness, will move to the Saturday before.

The new schedule means that the races will often fall on Memorial Day weekend, summer’s unofficial kickoff, a busy travel weekend and now home to Baltimore’s Artscape festival.

The schedule shift is Maryland’s choice as track operators jockey for calendar positions and clout for their races.

Earlier this week, the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes operators — the other Triple Crown races that bookend the Preakness — announced a new $5 million, six-race “Thoroughbred Championships Series” that excluded the Preakness. As part of that move, the races locked in their traditional dates: the first Saturday in May for the Derby and five weeks after the Derby for the Belmont.

Moore, speaking at an event in Baltimore Tuesday night, indicated that he had little concern about the new racing championships series and the chance that it might diminish the value of the Preakness and the Triple Crown.

The state recently paid $85 million to acquire the intellectual property rights to the Preakness, beating out an offer from Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby.

Moore said the new racing series underscored the need for the state to maintain control over racing in Maryland.

“Maryland needs to be in charge of its own destiny,” the Democratic governor told reporters Tuesday.

It’s unclear whether the state — which owns Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park and is renovating them with taxpayer-backed bonds — will seek to have the Preakness added to the new racing series.

The Preakness has also been under pressure from trainers and owners to push the race later so that horses have more time to recover from the Kentucky Derby before racing again.

The last two Kentucky Derby winners, Sovereignty and Golden Tempo, skipped the Preakness in favor of resting up for the Belmont. Not having a Derby winner in the Preakness is a blow to the race, eliminating the possibility of a Triple Crown winner.

Officials with the Maryland Jockey Club, a nonprofit that operates Pimlico and Laurel for the state, expressed optimism about shifting the race later.

“The extra week between the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness opens the Preakness to potential participants who use modern training methods,” Bill Knauf, Maryland Jockey Club president, said in a statement.

He said the Preakness and Triple Crown are “positioned for growth and great success.”

The 2026 Preakness was held at Laurel Park while Pimlico is being renovated. The race is scheduled to return to Pimlico in 2027, and the track will host year-round racing. Laurel is slated to be converted into a training center.

The state also will announce a new TV rights deal with NBC Sports, which will air both the Preakness Stakes and the Black-Eyed Susan on its networks through 2032. NBC also has the media rights for the Kentucky Derby, while FOX has the rights to the Belmont. The networks are splitting the races in the new championship series.

NBC Sports plans an “enhanced schedule” of broadcasts to showcase both days of racing, Jon Miller, NBC Sports president of acquisitions and partnerships, said in a statement.

“This extension is a testament to the strength of the relationship between the Maryland Jockey Club and NBC Sports and underscores our commitment to horse racing,” Miller’s statement said.

This is a developing story.