For four decades, owners hoping to run in the Kentucky Derby made one payment that covered all three Triple Crown races. That changes for 2027.
Nominations opened Nov. 12 for the inaugural Thoroughbred Championship Series, the 10-race series created by Churchill Downs Inc. and the New York Racing Association. Owners who want to run in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes will nominate through the TCS. The Preakness Stakes is not part of the series, and a Churchill Downs spokesperson told BloodHorse there is no plan to accept nominations for the 2027 Triple Crown races. The Maryland Jockey Club says it will take Preakness nominations separately.
Here’s what we know so far.
The series
The TCS has two divisions. The Derby Division runs six races, per the Paulick Report:
Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs, May 1
Belmont Stakes, Belmont Park, June 5
Matt Winn Stakes, Churchill Downs, July 3
Jim Dandy Stakes, Saratoga, July 31
Travers Stakes, Saratoga, Aug. 28
TCS Championship, Churchill Downs, Sept. 25
The Oaks Division has four races for 3-year-old fillies: the Kentucky Oaks on April 30, the Acorn on June 4, the Coaching Club American Oaks on July 24 and the Alabama on Aug. 21. The Oaks Division winner will be invited to the TCS Championship.
On top of race purses, the series will pay $5 million in Derby Division bonuses and $1 million in Oaks Division bonuses, with more than $22 million in purses and prizes available across the 10 races, according to Churchill. Trainers and jockeys get their own standings: $100,000 each will go to the leading trainers and jockeys, paid $50,000, $30,000 and $20,000 to the top three in each.
How nominations work
Horses must be nominated to the TCS to earn series points, appear in the standings or qualify for bonuses. Nominations are made at TCSnominations.com. One nomination covers a colt or gelding for all six Derby Division races. A filly nominated to the TCS is automatically eligible for both divisions.
The fee schedule, as reported by DRF, is $500 through Dec. 10, $7,500 from Dec. 11 through March 2, and $75,000 from March 3 through April 24, the day the Derby is drawn.
For comparison, the Triple Crown nomination for 2026 cost $600 at the first closing in late January and $6,000 at the late closing in April, BloodHorse noted. Churchill Downs Inc. reported 367 3-year-olds nominated through the first Triple Crown closing last year.
What it means for the Preakness
The Preakness returns to a rebuilt Pimlico on Sunday, May 23, 2027, which is 22 days after the Derby and 13 days before the Belmont. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore announced the date change in August, two days after the TCS was first unveiled.
“The Maryland Jockey Club and the entire state of Maryland look forward to bringing the iconic Preakness Stakes, the second jewel in racing’s Triple Crown, back to Baltimore at the new Pimlico Race Course on Sunday, May 23, 2027, 22 days after the Kentucky Derby,” the MJC said in a statement reported by BloodHorse. “We will open nominations for the Preakness, with additional details coming very soon.”
Joint Triple Crown nominations have existed since the mid-1980s. Triple Crown Productions was formed after 1985 Derby winner Spend a Buck skipped the Preakness to chase a $2 million bonus in the Jersey Derby at Garden State Park, as TDN has recounted.
What people are saying
When the series was announced in August, NYRA president and CEO David O’Rourke said it “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,” in the joint CDI-NYRA release.
Owner Mike Repole wasn’t worried about the effect on the Preakness. Asked by CNN Sports whether he was concerned, he replied: “No. How many horses have run in the Derby the last three years and run back in the Preakness?”
Tom Ryan of Front Row Club, a partner in Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Hughes, sees it differently. “The Triple Crown was always so reliable in generating mainstream attention,” he told BloodHorse. “Now we’ve made the Triple Crown untenable with the spacing of the Preakness 13 days before the 1 1/2-mile Belmont.” Front Row Club still plans to nominate its top 3-year-olds to both the TCS and the Preakness. “We will do our best to support the Preakness,” Ryan said.
Opinion pieces this week from The Racing Biz and the Paulick Report criticized the end of joint Triple Crown nominations.
NBC’s Randy Moss, a longtime advocate for fixing the spacing of the Triple Crown races, told PTF in August that he saw the situation as an ongoing negotiation rather than a finished deal, and agreed that the Triple Crown isn’t dead. It might just take a year off. (You can hear the full conversation here.)
Possible fixes on the table
Ideas for bringing the pieces back together are already circulating. Ryan suggested moving the Belmont back a week, with NYRA building one big day around the Belmont and another around the Metropolitan Handicap. Moss said in August he hoped the Belmont could move a week and that the Preakness might one day be folded into the series.
Open questions
The Maryland Jockey Club has not yet released its Preakness nomination fees or deadlines. The TCS release also does not say how the trainer and jockey awards will be funded, BloodHorse noted. Full rules, the points structure and the complete fee schedule are posted at TCSnominations.com.
The first deadline is Dec. 10. We’ll be watching to see how many horses are nominated to each.
