Maryland Jockey Club: Preakness 2027 date is not changed yet

The head of the new Maryland Jockey Club said Monday’s report of a possible change in the traditional date of the Preakness Stakes was premature. But he also did not rule out the reported possibility that the race could be moved back a week to the fourth Saturday in May next year.

“We honestly have no comment about it,” MJC president and general manager Bill Knauf told Horse Racing Nation on Tuesday morning.

The report by Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal cited sources who said “the Preakness Stakes could have a new spot on the racing calendar and a new broadcast home beginning in 2027.”

Flashback: Maryland buys Laurel Park for training.

The scheduling of the Preakness only two weeks after the Kentucky Derby has been debated for years. It simmered throughout the 37-year gap between Triple Crown winners Affirmed in 1978 and American Pharoah in 2015. Since Justify swept the classics in 2018, the topic began to boil again in the last four years with Kentucky Derby winners Rich Strike and Sovereignty skipping the trip to Maryland.

Knauf said that any conjecture about a future date for the Preakness, including a move from May 15 to May 22 in 2027, is a definite maybe.

“We’re still in the middle of discussing it,” he said.

That followed Knauf’s confirmation that the MJC is talking to networks about a new Preakness media contract to replace NBC’s deal, which expires after this year’s Preakness on May 18 at Laurel Park.

“We’re in the middle of our media rights negotiations and have always said we’re open to listening to all partners and options,” he said.

The Preakness has been televised by NBC every year since 2001.

The MJC replaced The Stronach Group’s 1/ST Racing last year in the running of Thoroughbred meets in Maryland. The Preakness name still is the property of 1/ST, which itself is administering the race one last time next month before licensing the brand to the MJC for nearly $5 million a year, according to the Baltimore Banner.

Pimlico, the traditional home of the Preakness, is undergoing a $400 million rebuilding that is scheduled to be done in time for next year’s race. Laurel Park, which is hosting the Triple Crown’s middle jewel for the first time, is the hub of Maryland racing this year. The state bought the track from Stronach for $50 million with plans to turn it into a training center to support the new Pimlico, which is a 28-mile drive away.

Stronach set a limit of only 4,800 fans for next month’s Preakness, because Laurel is being downsized.

“That was their decision,” Knauf said. “All aspects of the Preakness (in 2026) are controlled by 1/ST. We’re obviously operating it on their behalf and working with them. Those calls are theirs.”