Horse Racing’s Triple Crown May Be Effectively Dead After Churchill Downs-NYRA Deal Leaves Out the Preakness

Churchill Downs Incorporated and the New York Racing Association announced a new six-race series for three-year-old thoroughbreds on Monday, and the biggest story isn’t what’s in it — it’s what’s missing. The Preakness Stakes, the traditional middle jewel of horse racing’s Triple Crown, is nowhere on the schedule.

The new Thoroughbred Championship Series kicks off in 2027 and runs from May through September, offering a $5 million bonus pool on top of individual race purses, all built around a unified points system designed to push the sport’s top three-year-olds to face off more often across a single season.

What the New Series Actually Looks Like

The inaugural 2027 schedule is expected to include the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 1, the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park on June 5, the Matt Winn Stakes back at Churchill Downs in early July, the Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in late July or early August, the Travers Stakes at Saratoga in late August, and a newly created championship race at Churchill Downs in September. Races at Churchill Downs will air nationally on NBC, while the New York-based races will be broadcast on Fox.

Rules for nomination, eligibility, the points system, and prize distribution are still being finalized and are expected to be released in the coming weeks. What’s already clear is the intent: reward horses, owners, and trainers for running a fuller season rather than peaking for one Saturday in May.

Why Leaving Out the Preakness Changes Everything

The absence of the Preakness is not a small omission. For 150-plus years, the Triple Crown has been defined by the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness two weeks later, and the Belmont Stakes closing it out. By building a lucrative alternative series that skips straight from the Derby to the Belmont, Churchill Downs and NYRA are creating a financial incentive for top horses to bypass Pimlico entirely — without technically eliminating the option.

The timing adds another layer. Maryland officials had just finalized an $85 million purchase of the Preakness Stakes’ intellectual property rights in June, a deal that returned control of the race to the state after Churchill Downs had effectively handed back those rights. Weeks later, Churchill Downs turned around and partnered with NYRA on a series that pointedly leaves Maryland out of the sport’s new economic center of gravity.

The Preakness is still scheduled to return to its traditional home at Pimlico in 2027 after a one-year relocation to nearby Laurel Park in 2026 for construction. But without the bonus money and points incentives tied to the new series, connections of the sport’s best three-year-olds now have a real financial reason to skip the race altogether and wait for the Belmont, where series points resume.

What It Means Going Forward

Nobody is formally killing the Triple Crown — the Derby, Preakness, and Belmont still exist as a standalone three-race pursuit, and a horse can still sweep all three. But the sport’s two biggest institutional players just built a bigger, richer alternative that doesn’t need the Preakness to function, and that’s a meaningful shift for anyone who already tracks betting futures markets or live sports betting odds heading into 2027. Bettors and horse racing fans should expect plenty of noise over the next several months as trainers, owners, and Maryland officials react to a series that reshapes the sport’s calendar without touching its most famous trophy.