Sweeping changes to horse racing may change the way the Triple Crown will be viewed forever.Last week, Churchill Downs Incorporated and the New York Racing Association announced a six-race championship series that includes the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes, the Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs in Louisville in July, and the Jim Dandy and the Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course later in the summer.It is also scheduled to have a championship race at Churchill Downs in September ahead of the Breeders' Cup in the fall, which in 2027 is set to take place at Belmont Park on Long Island.However, one of those Triple Crown races will change its usual spot on the calendar in an effort to improve attendance, which has severely dwindled in recent years.CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COMJockey Umberto Rispoli crosses the finish line on Journalism to win the 150th Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course on May 17, 2025, in Baltimore, Maryland.
(Rob Carr/Getty Images)After back-to-back Kentucky Derby winners did not race in the Preakness Stakes, the 2027 race will be run three weeks and a day after the Derby, instead of its usual two-week gap after the Derby.This means that a Triple Crown race will be run on a Sunday for the first time ever.The Preakness will go off on May 23, 2027, 22 days after the Kentucky Derby on May 1, 2027.The shift marks a major change on the horse racing calendar after three-quarters of a century during which the Preakness took place two weeks to the day after the Derby was run on the first Saturday in May, with the lone exception of 2020 because of the pandemic.Maryland Jockey Club CEO Bill Knauf acknowledged the tradition while also calling this the time to move the Preakness back."It’s been discussed for a very long time (and) we recognized the different trends and training methods recently," Knauf told The Associated Press.
"We entered the discussion maybe even saying, 'Hey, is two weeks the right amount? I think the ...