Churchill Downs and the New York Racing Association (NYRA) have announced a new six-race Thoroughbred Championship Series set to begin in 2027. This series will offer a $5 million bonus prize pool distributed via a points system, designed to create a season-long championship for top three-year-old horses. The series will include the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes, along with the Matt Winn Stakes, Jim Dandy Stakes, Travers Stakes, and a newly created championship race at Churchill Downs in September.
Notably absent from this new series is the Preakness Stakes, the second jewel of the traditional Triple Crown. This exclusion is seen by many as a significant blow to the Triple Crown's relevance, as trainers and owners will have a strong financial incentive to prioritize the new series' races due to the substantial bonus and a more spaced-out schedule. The traditional two-week gap between the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness has long been a point of contention for trainers, with several recent Derby winners, including Golden Tempo and Sovereignty, skipping the Preakness in favor of a longer rest before the Belmont Stakes.
The new series proposes a schedule that includes the Kentucky Derby in May, the Belmont Stakes in June, the Matt Winn stakes in early July, the Jim Dandy and Travers Stakes in late July/August, and the final championship race in September. While Churchill Downs and NYRA officials claim the new series will not impact the Triple Crown, analysts suggest it will significantly diminish its importance. The Maryland Jockey Club, organizers of the Preakness, reportedly considered moving the race to three weeks after the Derby but was seemingly excluded from the discussions surrounding the new series, leaving the Preakness's future in its traditional timing uncertain and its participation by top horses in doubt.
