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Posted on 08/05/2026 10:30:05 AM PDT by WhiteHatBobby0701
Churchill Downs Incorporated and The New York Racing Association Introduce a Six-Race Championship Series, Running Across Three Iconic Racing Venues and Crowning One Champion
CDI and NYRA Leaders to be Available for Joint News Conference Monday at 4 p.m. ET
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (August 3, 2026) – Churchill Downs Incorporated (“CDI”) (Nasdaq: CHDN) and The New York Racing Association, Inc. (“NYRA”) announced today the creation of the “Thoroughbred Championship Series.” The new six-race competition will begin in 2027 and establish an annual season-long championship for America’s leading three-year-old Thoroughbreds.
The country’s most iconic racing venues – Churchill Downs Racetrack, Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course – will host the six-race series beginning the first Saturday in May.
“The Thoroughbred Championship Series will extend the excitement of the sport across a five-month season,” said Bill Carstanjen, Chief Executive Officer of CDI. “The Kentucky Derby introduces millions of fans to a new generation of Thoroughbred stars each year, and this series gives those fans a reason to stay engaged with the sport’s biggest stars throughout the season. By connecting these premier events through one championship, we’re creating a season-long storyline that benefits the future of Thoroughbred racing.”
“This series is designed to showcase the sport’s best three-year-olds across a season-long championship, elevating our biggest events and creating the next generation of fans,” said David O’Rourke, President and Chief Executive Officer of NYRA. “The return of the Belmont Stakes to a newly transformed Belmont Park makes this an especially exciting moment for our sport. Together with Churchill Downs and our television partners, we are building on tradition to carry the excitement of these marquee races through the entire season.”
The inaugural 2027 Thoroughbred Championship Series is expected to include:
Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve at Churchill Downs Racetrack on May 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets at Belmont Park on June 5 Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs Racetrack in July (exact date TBD) Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in late July/early August (exact date TBD) Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in late August (exact date TBD) Championship Race at Churchill Downs Racetrack in September (exact date TBD)
A unified points system is designed to encourage the nation’s leading three-year-olds to compete against one another more frequently. In addition to individual race purses, a $5 million prize pool will be awarded based on the final standings, which will also provide owners and trainers with meaningful financial incentives to remain active throughout the championship series.
Each race will be broadcast to a national television audience. The Churchill Downs races will air on NBC, while the NYRA races will air on FOX.
CDI and NYRA will work collaboratively on the series’ rules, nominations process, marketing, sponsorship, wagering opportunities and television distribution. Broadcast, sponsorship and commercial partnership details will be announced as agreements are finalized.
Additional information regarding the race schedule, points system, eligibility rules, prize distribution, and branding will be released shortly.
Bill Carstanjen and David O’Rourke will participate in a virtual news conference today, Monday, August 3, 2026 at 4 p.m. ET. Interested parties may listen to the conference call by accessing the online, real-time webcast and broadcast of the call here or by telephone at 800-715-9871 or 646-307-1963. Dial-in participants should reference Conference ID 8320599. Following the opening remarks, the moderator will open the call to questions. An online replay will be available following the call on CDI’s investor webpage at https://ir.churchilldownsincorporated.com/events-presentations.
Members of the media may also email the contacts listed above to submit questions in advance of the conference call by 2 p.m. ET. Questions will be addressed during the news conference as time permits.
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The object is to put horse racing on a storyline-driven chase for Horse of the Year. Three of the sport's five majors are included (Preakness and Classic are not). The Churchill Downs Championship will be a new race. The other races are part of the 6-race championship include from NYRA, the Belmont, Jim Dandy, and Travers, and from Churchill Downs, the Matt Winn, which moves to July. The TCS Championship Race will be held at Churchill Downs in likely late September.
Preakness Stakes moved its date to eight days later than normal and now will be raced on a Sunday.
But it is losing its lustre. It will go up against the final round of the PGA and even the Indy 500 in selected years. Also with the TCS, Wes Moore is making a dangerous gambit to not join the TCS.
Thus endeth the Triple Crown. And with any vestige that horse racing matters. The general public was only interested in the Crown, and won’t care about some new “championship”. They really should have just loosened the schedule so trainers didn’t want to skip the Preakness. If they’d have gone to first weekends of May, June, and July it would have put the ending of the crown on or near 4th of July weekend, and given the horses a break.
Laurel put on an excellent show this year hosting the Preakness and the numbers were reflective in handle and TV viewership despite not having a Kentucky Derby winner. The field was deeper and better for the handicapper. Maryland put their eggs in Baltimore/Pimlico and by purchasing the intellectual property right of the Preakness name from the Stronach Group, that upstaged Churchill who made a similar offer.
Churchill last week mentioned the possibility of selling many of its properties including Presque Isle and some casinos. It killed Arlington among other tracks over the recent years and similarly Calder (no longer a horse track but an active casino with Jai Alai) in Miami; but even that is potentially up for sale as of last’s week announcement.
The Black-Eyed Susan card will now be run on Saturday.
The traditional Triple Crown could still be viable based on the news today but that would mean an owner would likely skip any competing race between the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes which could hurt the opportunity to get the $5 million bonus proposed yesterday depending on the schedule of the 6-race slate.
The Breeders Cup Classic changed horse racing where now it became a true majors system. This goes to the next step — a championship series. Six races from May to September where the same horses race, and one horse at the end will win the Championship Series. Points matter. Now you’ll have the same horses battling over the six races where by the time November rolls along for the Classic, those six races will effectively create drama. Will the points champion be the Classic winner and win it all?
Race them till their legs give out or they drop dead.
Barbaro and Eight Belles immediately come to mind.
Barbaro at the Preakness was the last horse race I ever watched......
I don’t care at all about horse racing but I love seeing yet another failure from moron Wes Moore.
In a state of loser governors he’s the biggest loser.
Sad.
I agree with spreading the three races out.
I am not much of a horse racing fan. I am interested to see if a horse can win all three races. I watch the Kentucky Derby, but don’t watch the remaining two if the winner doesn’t race in the Preakness.
Not interested in a six race series.
I’m sure he’ll be voted out for sure, oh wait....
They won’t create because nobody is going to care. Nobody cares about the Breeders Cup. The general public cares about the Kentucky Derby, and only cares about the Preakness if the winner of the Derby is in it, and only cares about the Belmont if there can be a Triple Crown winner. By functionally killing the Preakness they’ve killed the Triple Crown.
Sounds as exciting as NASCAR
The six race series with races every 3-6 weeks creates a different schedule for horses that is based on the 1941 and 2015 definition of “the majors”. Whirlaway (1941) won the original Four Majors (Travers). American Pharoah (2015) won the modern Four Majors (Classic).
Derby, Belmont, Winn, Jim Dandy, Travers, and a Championship Race. The three NYRA races are well known (Jim Dandy was last week but few horses were in it this year; it makes the prep race for the Travers a championship points race).
Maybe put the Winn and Championship on turf where the horses must race on BOTH grass and turf.
The Travers will host Golden Tempo where Cherie Deveaux could win her third major of the season headed to the Breeders’ Cup Classic for a shot at four majors of the five. It is known as the Graveyard of Favorites because top winners are often defeated there. As horse racing has created the Dubai World Cup and the Saudi Cup that has attracted the best horses in the world, the championship points finale at Churchill Downs could also be restricted to the top 12 horses in points at the end of the year. Imagine where the Travers horses are battling not just for the win but to qualify for the Championship. $10 million to win all six races, $3 million to win the points title, and if a jockey, owner, or trainer wins all six with different horses, of course pay a big cash prize.
The gamblers want the six race series since they can bet on the same horses. The jockeys and trainers knowing they are watching a showdown over six rounds is watching a horse racing tour where every win is points. A horse points system, a jockey points system, an owner points system, and a trainer points system. The battle will be “Can Renegade finally beat Golden Tempo in Round Three?”
And tehy somehow left out the Preakness?
The Triple Crown series already taxes the horses to the max.
It’s not a video game. These are big animals which need time off to recover. Horse racing has gone downhill over the last half century.
I agree no one will win six in a row.
The six race championship series seems to appeal to gamblers and those really into horse racing to me. I don’t think this will broaden interest in the sport.
Moving the Preakness to a Sunday isn’t a good move either.
Payback for Gov. Moore folks.
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