Preakness will be run at Pimlico on Sunday, May 23, eight days later than usual under a plan to preserve the race’s prestige as the middle jewel of the Triple Crown.
The Maryland Jockey Club and NBC Sports issued a joint statement before governor Wes Moore led the announcement Wednesday afternoon at the Maryland State House in Annapolis. NBC, which has televised every Preakness since 2001, extended its contract through 2032 for an undisclosed amount of money.
“We are going to move it back to be able to ensure that the winner of the Kentucky Derby will then be prepared to compete in the second leg of the Triple Crown, because the Triple Crown will continue, and it will continue to be Preakness,” Moore said.
There was no mention made of any adjustments in the Preakness purse, and the dollar figure was absent from news releases. The race has awarded $2 million each of the last three years.
“It’s all under consideration,” MJC president and general manager Bill Knauf said in a text message to Horse Racing Nation. “We have not determined any purse increases or bonus structure just yet.”
Wednesday’s announcement came two days after the introduction of the new Thoroughbred Championship Series with its $5 million bonus. The six-race package was built around the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes while conspicuously excluding the Preakness. The series was introduced jointly Monday by Churchill Downs Inc. and the New York Racing Association. It attracted plenty of social-media critics who thought it would doom the Preakness and the Triple Crown.
“The Preakness is focused on the Triple Crown,” Knauf said. “The Triple Crown has been going for 100 years, and it’s going to be around for 100 more. And it will always run through Pimlico.”
