UPDATE: Preakness Left Out of New $5 Million Thoroughbred Championship Series

The Preakness Stakes is facing a new question about its place in elite American racing after being left out of a six-race Thoroughbred Championship Series announced by Churchill Downs Incorporated and the New York Racing Association.

The competition is scheduled to begin in 2027 with a $5 million prize pool. It includes the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes—the first and third legs of the Triple Crown—plus the Matt Winn Stakes, Jim Dandy Stakes, Travers Stakes and a September championship race at Churchill Downs.

Baltimore’s race is not on the schedule.

The omission is a material update to PowerPage’s July 31 coverage of Maryland’s finalized acquisition of the Preakness rights. Ownership and long-term investment may be moving forward, but the new series shows that the race’s national scheduling position is still unsettled.

The Derby and Belmont are scheduled five weeks apart in 2027, from May 1 to June 5. A Maryland Jockey Club spokesperson told the Associated Press that the Preakness date for next year has not been announced and declined to comment on the new series.

Any calendar change would carry consequences beyond racing strategy. The Preakness is a Baltimore institution tied to tourism, hospitality, employment and the redevelopment of Pimlico Race Course. Its relationship to the Derby and Belmont also helps define the identity and commercial value of the Triple Crown.

For now, exclusion from the championship series does not mean the Preakness has been canceled or removed from the Triple Crown. It does mean the organizers building a new season-long structure have moved ahead without it—placing more attention on when Maryland announces its 2027 date and how Baltimore’s race fits into the sport’s changing calendar.