Preakness date for next year to be revealed, setting the Triple Crown schedule

[AP Photo]

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 yesterday 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. STEPHEN WHYNO, Sports Writer, MDT/AP