The Triple Crown has always been one of the most compelling storylines in American horse racing. Every spring, fans follow the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes, hoping to see a horse attempt something that has become extraordinarily difficult: winning all three races.
But the Triple Crown has been changing, and not necessarily for the better.
The latest developments surrounding the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes have created even more questions about where the series is headed. Instead of fixing the problems that have fractured the Triple Crown, Churchill Downs and the New York Racing Association (NYRA) have now announced an entirely new six-race series for three-year-olds.
In my opinion, that’s the wrong solution.
The Biggest Problem: Trainers Don’t Want to Run Back in Two Weeks
The fundamental problem with the modern Triple Crown is pretty simple: many trainers no longer want to run their horses back just two weeks after the Kentucky Derby.
That wasn’t nearly as much of an issue in the past, but it has become increasingly important in today’s racing environment.
We’ve already seen recent Kentucky Derby winners skip the Preakness and then win the Belmont Stakes. That’s a major indication that the traditional spacing of the Triple Crown races isn’t working the way it once did.
And it’s not just the Derby winner. Fewer Kentucky Derby horses that finish behind the winner are coming back for the Preakness.
The result is a Triple Crown series that has been increasingly fragmented.
The Belmont Stakes Created Another Complication
The Triple Crown’s problems became even more complicated when Belmont Park closed for its major renovation project following the 2023 racing season.
Because Belmont Park was unavailable, NYRA moved the Belmont Stakes to Saratoga. The race was also shortened from its traditional 1½-mile distance to 1¼ miles.
The Belmont Stakes is scheduled to return to Belmont Park in 2027, with the race currently scheduled for June 5.
That should have been the point when the Triple Crown finally returned to something resembling normal.
Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened.
The Preakness Had Its Own Problems
Maryland racing has been dealing with a major renovation of Pimlico, which meant the Preakness Stakes had to move to Laurel Park this year.
The race remained two weeks after the Kentucky Derby and was run at its traditional distance of 1 3/16 miles.
Pimlico desperately needed a renovation. It’s an old facility that needed significant investment, and Maryland now owns the track.
The Preakness will return to Pimlico in 2027.
So, heading into 2027, you would think everything was finally lining up:
- The Belmont Stakes would return to Belmont Park.
- The Preakness would return to Pimlico.
- The Triple Crown could finally return to its traditional venues.
This should have been the year when everyone worked together to restore the series.
Instead, racing went in the opposite direction.
Churchill Downs and NYRA Create a New Six-Race Series
Churchill Downs and NYRA announced a new three-year-old championship series beginning in 2027.
The six-race series will include:
- Kentucky Derby
- Belmont Stakes
- Matt Winn Stakes
- Jim Dandy Stakes
- Travers Stakes
- A new, yet-to-be-named final race at Churchill Downs in September
Notice what’s missing.
The Preakness Stakes isn’t part of the series.
Neither are the Haskell Stakes or Pennsylvania Derby.
That’s an extraordinary decision when you consider that the Preakness is one of the three races that traditionally defines the Triple Crown.
Instead of repairing the existing series, Churchill Downs and NYRA have essentially created another one.
Maryland Pushes Back
Two days after the Churchill Downs-NYRA announcement, Maryland racing officials announced that the Preakness Stakes would remain on NBC through 2032.
Even more importantly, the Preakness will be moved farther away from the Kentucky Derby.
Beginning in 2027, the Preakness is scheduled for Sunday, May 23 — 22 days after the Kentucky Derby.
That’s a significant change from the traditional 14-day gap.
From the perspective of getting more Kentucky Derby horses into the Preakness, the additional spacing makes sense.
The problem is what happens next.
The Belmont Stakes is currently scheduled to be run just 13 days after the Preakness.
So we’ve potentially gone from a two-week gap between the Derby and Preakness to a three-week gap — only to create a less-than-two-week gap between the Preakness and Belmont.
That doesn’t solve the Triple Crown problem.
Churchill Downs Was Always Going to Have the Strongest Position
When you look at the corporate maneuvering surrounding all of this, Churchill Downs was always going to have a major advantage.
The Kentucky Derby is the first race of the Triple Crown.
And the Kentucky Derby isn’t going anywhere.
The race is run on the first Saturday in May, and there will continue to be more horses that want to run in the Derby than there are available starting positions.
The Derby has enormous popularity, tremendous betting interest and a massive audience.
That’s the one part of the Triple Crown that doesn’t need fixing.
The problem has always been the spacing and participation in the other two races.
Pimlico and Belmont are essentially stuck in the middle of that problem.
If trainers aren’t willing to run their horses back in two weeks, Maryland has to figure out how to make the Preakness more attractive. NYRA has to determine what the Belmont should look like. And everyone has to consider the long-term health of the Triple Crown and the sport in general rather than simply protecting individual interests.
Racing Should Have Worked Together
This is where I think racing missed a huge opportunity.
Churchill Downs, Maryland racing officials and NYRA should have worked together to find a solution.
With the Belmont returning to Belmont Park and the Preakness returning to Pimlico, 2027 should have been the perfect opportunity to rebuild the Triple Crown.
Instead, everyone seems to be going in their own direction.
I’ve been following horse racing since 1980, and this kind of dysfunction isn’t exactly new.
Racing has struggled with leadership and cooperation for decades.
But of all the things to mess up, the Triple Crown is probably the worst choice.
The Triple Crown is one of the few things in horse racing that casual sports fans understand. It’s something that brings people into the sport who might not otherwise pay attention to racing.
And now we’re making it more complicated.
Do We Really Need Another Racing Series?
I understand what Churchill Downs and NYRA are trying to accomplish.
They want to keep fans interested in three-year-old racing beyond the Triple Crown.
That makes sense.
My own horse racing video channel experiences the same seasonal pattern. My views increase substantially in the weeks leading up to the Triple Crown and throughout the Triple Crown series. After the Belmont Stakes, interest drops off.
Then the cycle begins again the following year as the Derby prep races and qualifying races become more important.
So I completely understand why racing executives would want to keep fans engaged longer.
But the Triple Crown already did that.
The answer wasn’t necessarily to create another series.
The answer was to make the existing Triple Crown stronger.
Most of the races in the new six-race series already existed anyway. They’re simply being grouped together and marketed as a championship series, with a new September finale being added.
And that raises an obvious question:
Will fans really follow this new series with the same passion they follow the Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown?
I’m not convinced.
Are We Going Back to the 1990s?
The new concept also feels like a resurrection of an older idea: the American Championship Racing Series.
Apparently, racing is going back to the past and saying, “That worked then, so maybe it will work again.”
Maybe it will.
But the Triple Crown was already the championship storyline that fans cared about.
We didn’t ask for a replacement.
We wanted the Triple Crown to be healthy again.
What Happens to the Haskell and Pennsylvania Derby?
The new series also creates another problem for major three-year-old races such as the Haskell Stakes and Pennsylvania Derby.
Those races aren’t included either.
That creates the possibility of another fracture in the three-year-old racing calendar.
If Churchill Downs and NYRA can create their own championship series, perhaps Maryland, Monmouth Park and Parx Racing could create their own series featuring the Preakness, Haskell and Pennsylvania Derby.
Call it the “Mid-Atlantic Triple.”
I’m being sarcastic, of course, but that’s essentially the direction racing seems to be heading.
Instead of bringing everyone together, we’re creating more divisions.
What Should NYRA Do With the Belmont?
In my opinion, NYRA now has an important decision to make.
If the goal is to keep the Triple Crown popular, the Belmont Stakes may need to move on the calendar.
A mile-and-a-half Belmont Stakes just 13 days after the Preakness doesn’t make much sense if the horses that ran in the Kentucky Derby are skipping the Preakness.
Think about the likely scenario.
A horse runs 1¼ miles in the Kentucky Derby.
The trainer decides not to run back in the Preakness, even though the Preakness now has better spacing.
Then, the horse is expected to run 1½ miles in the Belmont, a distance that seems like an outlier without a healthy Triple Crown Series.
Why would a trainer choose that?
It doesn’t make much sense.
And there simply aren’t many major dirt races in North America at 1½ miles anymore.
If NYRA refuses to move the Belmont date, I wouldn’t be surprised if the race eventually shortens to 1¼ miles as part of the new Churchill Downs-NYRA series.
That may be the direction we’re headed.
Could the Preakness Become the Third Leg?
If NYRA refuses to move the Belmont, Maryland could eventually have to consider another drastic solution.
Perhaps the Preakness could become the third leg of the Triple Crown.
I don’t know if that will happen, and I’m not saying it should.
But once you start moving the races around and breaking apart the traditional sequence, almost anything becomes possible.
That’s how much of a mess this has become.
Will More Derby Horses Run in the Preakness?
That’s probably the biggest question for 2027.
Moving the Preakness to 22 days after the Kentucky Derby should give trainers more time to prepare their horses.
Will that be enough?
We’ll find out.
If significantly more Derby horses return for the Preakness, Maryland’s decision will look very smart.
If the top Derby horses continue to skip the race, then the spacing wasn’t the only problem.
Will the New Six-Race Series Work?
That’s another question nobody can answer yet.
The new Churchill Downs-NYRA series could become popular.
Maybe fans will enjoy following the three-year-old championship races from May through September.
But I don’t think anyone should assume it will automatically replace the interest generated by the Triple Crown.
The Kentucky Derby is unique.
The Triple Crown is unique.
You can’t necessarily manufacture that same level of interest simply by taking six existing races, grouping them together and putting them on television.
The Triple Crown already had the storyline.
It already had the history.
It already had the fan base.
And it already had the springtime attention of the sports world.
Racing Needs to Fix What It Already Has
My advice to Churchill Downs, NYRA, Maryland racing officials and everyone else involved is simple:
Put your efforts into making the Triple Crown healthy again.
That’s what the fans want.
We didn’t ask for a new series.
We didn’t ask for the Preakness to be separated from the Triple Crown.
We didn’t ask for another championship series.
We wanted the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes to work together again.
The people running these races broke the Triple Crown.
Now it’s up to them to fix it.
The 2027 season will tell us a lot.
Will more Derby horses run in the Preakness?
Will the Belmont remain at 1½ miles?
Will NYRA change the Belmont date?
Will the new six-race Churchill Downs-NYRA series attract fans?
And most importantly, will the Triple Crown still feel like the Triple Crown?
Right now, I don’t know.
That’s the frustrating thing about horse racing. After following this sport for decades, you learn that almost anything can happen — and that the people running the sport don’t always make the decisions you expect.
For now, all we can do is wait for next spring and see what happens.
