Churchill Downs restructured American racing today. Maryland found out when everyone else did. This is the second time in four months. The bill is $633 million.
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews
Editor’s Note: MDBayNews published this morning, at approximately 11:30 am, the first analysis connecting Maryland’s $85 million IP purchase to CDI’s strategic exit from the state and the structural marginalization of the Preakness. Dan Wolken of Yahoo Sports published “Horse racing’s Triple Crown may be dead” four hours later. Racing writer Chris Pika wrote on X that Churchill Downs “would have included the race in the new series if it owned the IP.” MDBayNews said it first.
This morning, Churchill Downs Incorporated and the New York Racing Association announced the Thoroughbred Championship Series — a six-race, season-long competition for three-year-old Thoroughbreds launching in 2027, broadcast nationally on NBC and FOX. The Preakness Stakes is not included.
Maryland Jockey Club president and general manager Bill Knauf, reached for comment by BloodHorse, declined to respond. MJC spokesman Dan Illman told the Daily Racing Form the organization “would not comment on the series because we just learned of the announcement.”
That silence has a precedent. And now it has a name.
The First Time
On April 21, 2026, Churchill Downs announced it had reached a definitive agreement to acquire the intellectual property rights to the Preakness Stakes and Black-Eyed Susan Stakes from 1/ST Maryland LLC for $85 million. The deal had been negotiated privately. Maryland was not a party to the discussions. The state — which had committed hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild Pimlico and was already operating the Maryland Jockey Club as the track’s nonprofit operator — learned about CDI’s acquisition of the Preakness brand the same way everyone else did: from a press release.
Prior Coverage — April 30, 2026
“Maryland Spent $450 Million. Churchill Downs Bought the Crown Jewel. Moore Wasn’t Invited.” — MDBayNews reported that the state had no seat at the negotiating table when CDI moved on the Preakness IP. The Maryland Jockey Club had no comment. mdbaynews.com
Two weeks later, when Democratic governors from four states gathered at Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby — hosted by Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear — Maryland’s Governor Wes Moore was not among them. He was not in the room where the sport’s most important relationships were being maintained.
The Response
Moore’s administration responded to the April blindsiding by exercising Maryland’s statutory right of first refusal under Maryland Code Ann. Bus. Reg. §11-520(d), matching CDI’s $85 million price and acquiring the Preakness IP. He announced it June 18, five days before the primary election, framing it as a decisive act of stewardship.
“We remain committed to working with the Governor to fully realize the potential of a redeveloped Pimlico and Preakness Stakes within the Triple Crown and the broader sports and entertainment landscape.”
— CDI CEO Bill Carstanjen, June 18, 2026
CDI CEO Bill Carstanjen issued a statement the same day. He said CDI understood why Maryland would acquire the IP and pledged the company remained “committed to working with the Governor and other elected leaders and horse racing constituents in Maryland to fully realize the potential of a redeveloped Pimlico and Preakness Stakes within the Triple Crown and the broader sports and entertainment landscape.”
In his June 18 letter exercising the right of first refusal, Moore expressed hope the state could work cooperatively with Churchill Downs going forward. CDI’s response, 46 days later, was a six-race series built without Maryland.
Maryland paid $85 million. CDI pocketed it. Carstanjen pledged partnership.
The Preakness Moore was spending $85 million to brand was already showing structural stress — not because of demand, but because of neglect. Portions of Pimlico had been condemned as structurally unsafe. In recent years Kentucky Derby winners had begun skipping the Preakness entirely, waiting instead for the Belmont. The Banner reported the race had been losing money in recent editions according to 1/ST officials, with bond repayments backstopped by casino slot revenue if race revenues fall short. A new Pimlico was supposed to reverse all of that. CDI’s new series makes the reversal harder before the new building is even finished.
The Second Time
Today — 46 days after Maryland wrote that check — CDI and NYRA announced the Thoroughbred Championship Series. Six races. Three venues. NBC and FOX. Launching 2027. No Preakness. The Maryland Jockey Club declined to comment.
Notably, CDI and NYRA did not address the Preakness omission anywhere in their announcement. They listed six races and moved on. When asked during a joint press conference this afternoon whether Maryland had been consulted or whether the Preakness could be added, NYRA CEO David O’Rourke said: “We wanted to get the foundation set, and working with the two parties, we could structure the six races bookending the entire thing.” Maryland was not one of the two parties. The door was left theoretically open. No one called Maryland to open it.
The Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association reacted immediately. Katy Voss, a Howard County-based trainer, breeder, and MTHA president, called the announcement counterproductive. “The horse industry in general has its challenges,” Voss said. “But for the big guys to gang up on the little guys, it’s kind of counterproductive.” Trainer Bob Baffert, who has won a record eight Preaknesses, said the series intrigues him but would not change his approach. “If I have a horse good enough and I won the Derby, I’d still run in the Preakness,” Baffert said. “The classics are still very exciting.” It is worth noting what Baffert did not say: that the Preakness is as important as it was.
The pattern is now documented twice in less than four months: a major strategic decision reshaping Maryland’s $633 million racing investment is made by other parties, announced publicly, and Maryland’s response is silence. Not a counter-proposal. Not a statement of position. Not even a placeholder acknowledging the development. Silence.
The pattern is now documented twice in less than four months: a major strategic decision reshaping Maryland’s $633 million racing investment is made by other parties, announced publicly, and Maryland’s response is silence.
What the Sport Is Saying
The racing world caught up quickly — over four hours after MDBayNews first published this analysis.
Dan Wolken · Yahoo Sports · August 3, 2026
“Horse racing’s Triple Crown may be dead.” Wolken argued that the CDI/NYRA series renders most financial incentives pointed away from the Preakness. With the Belmont locked into its June date as part of the series, any attempt to move the Preakness creates a scheduling trap: horses running both the Preakness and Belmont would face only two weeks between races, making it unlikely the sport’s best horses would contest both. He also named the Haskell at Monmouth Park as among “the other losers in this arrangement” — a conclusion MDBayNews reached weeks ago in prior coverage.
Chris Pika · @BlogAndTackle · August 3, 2026
“Apparently, Churchill Downs took Maryland’s match of their buying of the Preakness IP to heart and effectively froze Pimlico and the Preakness out of relevance. Had to imagine that Churchill would have included the race in the new series if it owned the IP.” In eleven words, Pika stated the inverse of what Maryland’s $85 million was supposed to prevent.
Bob Baffert · @BobBaffert · August 3, 2026
Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert welcomed the new series and pledged to compete in it — then immediately defended the Triple Crown by name, calling it “the greatest achievement in racing” and promising to keep running in Baltimore “every May, as well as in The Thoroughbred Series.” That is not a trainer who thinks the Preakness is safe. That is a trainer calculating how to navigate a sport that just split in two.
Maryland had no comment on any of it.
The Question the Silence Raises
A six-race championship series spanning two major organizations, three venues, national television deals on the two largest broadcast networks, a points system, nominations process, sponsorship structure, and rules framework does not get designed in 46 days. The Thoroughbred Championship Series was in negotiation — at minimum in advanced planning — before Maryland exercised the right of first refusal on June 18.
The series also includes a $5 million bonus prize pool distributed based on final standings — on top of individual race purses — giving owners and trainers a direct financial incentive to route horses through CDI/NYRA tracks rather than the Preakness. That pool alone is nearly equal to what CDI estimated the Preakness IP was worth to them annually.
There is a compounding problem Maryland has not yet addressed publicly: the Preakness’s existing broadcast rights have expired. NBC and FOX are currently bidding for those rights. Those are the same two networks that today committed to carrying CDI’s and NYRA’s races in the new championship series. Maryland is negotiating a broadcast deal for a race that NBC and FOX just agreed to route around on every other Saturday of the racing season.
Which means one of two things is true.
Either Moore’s administration knew CDI and NYRA were in discussions about a competing series when Maryland committed $85 million to the IP purchase — and proceeded anyway, betting the brand would retain its value despite being structurally sidelined.
Or Moore’s administration did not know — which means CDI accepted $85 million from Maryland while withholding material information about a strategic plan that would directly and immediately diminish the value of what Maryland was buying.
Either Moore’s administration knew CDI and NYRA were in discussions… Or Moore’s administration did not know.
Neither conclusion is comfortable. The first suggests a governor who gambled $85 million of public bond debt on a brand he knew was being routed around. The second suggests a corporation that took public money while concealing its intentions.
Carstanjen’s June 18 statement pledging commitment to “the Preakness Stakes within the Triple Crown” now has a specific meaning problem. CDI announced today a series that routes around the Triple Crown entirely. That pledge was either made in good faith and abandoned within six weeks, or it was made knowing it would be superseded by an announcement that hadn’t yet been made public. CDI’s communications team should be asked, directly, which it was.
What a Wall Street Analyst Said
It is worth noting what the financial community observed at the time. Truist Securities analyst Barry Jonas noted in June that the Preakness “would not have been a meaningful cash driver for Churchill Downs, contributing perhaps $6 million annually,” and questioned whether Maryland, “beset with a considerable budget deficit,” was the best party to operate the race.
A company that genuinely needed the Preakness IP to execute its strategy would have fought Maryland’s right of first refusal in court, challenged its applicability, or expressed frustration at losing a core asset. CDI did none of those things. Carstanjen’s statement was gracious to the point of being unusual. A $6 million annual asset was exchanged for $85 million in immediate cash from a state government — then CDI built a series that doesn’t need the Preakness to function.
For context: the previous licensing arrangement would have had the Maryland Jockey Club pay 1/ST Racing roughly $5 million annually for the right to operate the Preakness. CDI was willing to pay $85 million to acquire it outright — then surrendered it without resistance the moment Maryland exercised its statutory right. The numbers on both sides of the transaction suggest CDI never needed the IP to execute its actual strategy. Maryland needed it to run its race. CDI needed the cash and a clear runway.
The transaction looks different in hindsight than it did in June.
The 1/ST Thread
There is a third party whose role has not been fully examined: 1/ST Racing, the Stronach Group.
1/ST sold the Pimlico track to Maryland. 1/ST sold the Preakness IP to CDI — which Maryland then bought back for $85 million. 1/ST still owns Santa Anita Park and Gulfstream Park. The Stronach Group has systematically divested its entire Maryland racing portfolio while retaining its most valuable non-Maryland assets. Maryland has been the exit buyer at every step of 1/ST’s withdrawal from the state.
Whether that represents sound management of a deteriorating asset by 1/ST, strategic maneuvering that left Maryland holding increasingly expensive obligations, or something in between is a question Maryland’s racing authority has not publicly addressed. It should.
The Questions That Require Answers
These are not allegations. They are documented questions arising from a documented sequence of events, involving more than $633 million in public commitments.
Maryland’s taxpayers, who are bond obligors on $633.5 million in racing commitments, are entitled to answers. Not eventually. Now.
Maryland on the Map
MDBayNews has covered this series from the beginning — the $400 million Pimlico commitment, the Shamrock Farm failure, the Laurel Park acquisition, the IP purchase, and today’s announcement. The through-line has been consistent: Maryland has been reactive at every major decision point while CDI, NYRA, and 1/ST have been strategic.
The first time Maryland was blindsided, Moore responded by spending $85 million. The second time, the Maryland Jockey Club declined to comment.
The first time Maryland was blindsided, Moore responded by spending $85 million. The second time, the Maryland Jockey Club declined to comment.
At some point, no comment becomes the story.
Related Coverage
“The Bet That Already Lost” — MDBayNews, August 3, 2026. “The Governor Bought a Horse Race” — MDBayNews, June 2026. “The Preakness Doesn’t Need the Derby Winner. It Needs a Reason to Matter.” — MDBayNews, May 2026.
Sources
Office of Governor Wes Moore, press release and letter to 1/ST Maryland LLC and Churchill Downs Inc., June 18, 2026, announcing exercise of right of first refusal under Maryland Code Ann. Bus. Reg. §11-520(d); Churchill Downs Incorporated, press release, April 21, 2026, announcing definitive agreement to acquire Preakness Stakes intellectual property from 1/ST Maryland LLC; Churchill Downs Incorporated, CEO Bill Carstanjen statement, June 18, 2026, issued in response to Maryland’s right of first refusal exercise; Churchill Downs Incorporated and New York Racing Association, joint press release announcing the Thoroughbred Championship Series, August 3, 2026; David Grening, Daily Racing Form (@DRFGrening), first public report of CDI/NYRA championship series announcement, 9:29 AM, August 3, 2026; Churchill Downs Incorporated, Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, July 30, 2026, disclosing planned divestiture of Ocean Downs and seven other regional gaming properties; Truist Securities, analyst note by Barry Jonas, June 2026, on CDI financial impact of Maryland IP acquisition; BloodHorse, “CDI, NYRA to Launch Championship Series for 3-Year-Olds,” including Bill Knauf and David O’Rourke statements, August 3, 2026; Daily Racing Form, “Churchill, NYRA to hold 3-year-old Championship Series that does not include Preakness,” including Dan Illman and Bob Baffert statements, August 3, 2026; The Baltimore Banner, “Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes to be part of new series without Preakness,” including Katy Voss and David O’Rourke statements, August 3, 2026; The Baltimore Banner, “Despite public help, Preakness is miles away from former popular status,” reporting on Preakness financial losses and attendance decline; WDRB Louisville, “Churchill Downs, NYRA unveil 6-race series to crown champion 3-year-old,” noting CDI and NYRA did not address Preakness omission in announcement, August 3, 2026; Thoroughbred Daily News, “State of Maryland Completes Acquisition of IP Rights to Preakness, Black Eyed Susan,” July 31, 2026; Associated Press, “Maryland exercises its right to match an $85 million offer to keep Preakness branding rights,” June 18, 2026; MDBayNews, Maryland on the Map series: “Maryland Spent $450 Million. Churchill Downs Bought the Crown Jewel. Moore Wasn’t Invited.” (April 30, 2026); “The Preakness Doesn’t Need the Derby Winner. It Needs a Reason to Matter.” (May 7, 2026); “The Governor Bought a Horse Race” (June 20, 2026); “The Bet That Already Lost” (August 3, 2026); Maryland Stadium Authority project records; Maryland General Assembly, HB 1524 (2024).
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