08/05/26 10:22:00
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08/05 05:00 CDT Preakness date for next year to be revealed, setting the 2027
Triple Crown schedule
Preakness date for next year to be revealed, setting the 2027 Triple Crown
schedule
By STEPHEN WHYNO
AP Sports Writer
The Preakness could be getting a new spot on the calendar following years of
speculation about the second leg of horse racing's Triple Crown moving further
away from the Kentucky Derby.
A staple on the third Saturday in May nearly every year since 1950, the date
for the 152nd rendition of the Preakness is set to be unveiled Wednesday by
Gov. Wes Moore and the Maryland Jockey Club at a news conference in the state
capital of Annapolis. The only time over the past three-quarters of a century
it did not take place on its usual date was in 2020 because of the pandemic.
Calls to change the spacing of the Triple Crown races loudened within the sport
in recent years, as owners and trainers increasingly opted to skip the
Preakness because the two-week turnaround is much shorter than what is now
normal for modern 3-year-old thoroughbreds. Golden Tempo became the second
Derby winner in a row and third in five years not to take part, and only three
horses ran in both.
But the Belmont Stakes staying on the first Saturday in June next year could
extend the troubles of the condensed schedule for at least one more Triple
Crown season. The return of the race to Belmont Park is set for June 5, as part
of a new 3-year-old championship series announced Monday that includes the
Derby, the Belmont and races into the summer and possibly early fall.
For at least '27, that series does not include the Preakness, which is set to
take place back at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore following a one-time stop
at Laurel Park. Full reconstruction of the new Pimlico is expected to be
completed by the spring of 2028.
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AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing
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