Maryland spent almost $600 million in tax dollars to support Pimlico Race Course, Laurel Park and the Preakness Stakes rights, but that investment is now facing a fresh challenge. Last Monday, Churchill Downs Inc. and the New York Racing Association announced a new six-race Thoroughbred Championship Series, and the Preakness is not part of it.
That matters because the Preakness is one of the nation’s most recognizable sporting events, and Maryland’s public commitment was built around keeping the 151-year-old race central to the state’s horse racing future. The deal included a Pimlico Race Course rebuild and the purchase of the Preakness Stakes rights, a sign that Maryland was betting on the race’s long-term value even as interest in thoroughbred racing has been waning.
What the new series changes
The new Thoroughbred Championship Series creates another major competition framework without the Preakness, which raises an obvious question about how much attention and momentum Maryland’s signature race can still command. If the goal of the state’s investment was to strengthen the Preakness and the broader racing product around it, a separate six-race series that leaves it out makes that return harder to measure.
Maryland’s commitment was not small. The state’s spending, tied to Pimlico and Laurel Park and the Preakness Stakes rights, was one of the biggest public bets on horse racing in recent memory. With the sport’s popularity under pressure, the new series adds another layer of uncertainty around whether that money will pay off the way lawmakers and racing officials hoped.
For now, the key point is simple: Maryland has already made its investment, but the landscape around the Preakness is changing. A new series announced last Monday does not include the race, and that puts even more focus on what the 151-year-old event means in the years ahead.
