Maryland to purchase Preakness intellectual property * The Racing Biz

Maryland to purchase Preakness intellectual property

Will match $85 million Churchill Downs offer

Frank Vespe
June 18, 2026

The state of Maryland will match Churchill Downs’s offer of $85 million to purchase the intellectual property associated with the Preakness Stakes and Black-Eyed Susan Stakes, Gov. Wes Moore’s office announced Thursday.

The news was first reported by The Baltimore Banner.

The state will issue 30-year bonds through the Maryland Economic Development Corporation (MEDCO), with the debt to be serviced by the nonprofit Maryland Jockey Club (TMJC), which operates day-to-day racing in the state. Debt service “will be backed by future revenues generated by the Preakness Stakes and Black-Eyed Susan, including wagering, ticketing, and sponsorship streams,” the Governor’s office said.

This article contains affiliate links. If you click and buy, we may earn a commission at no extra charge to you.

Get tickets now!

Pick up reliable and rewarding tickets for major events!

“The Preakness Stakes is more than just a race; it is a cornerstone of Maryland’s history, culture, and economy,” Moore said in a statement.

The decision presumably brings to a close one of the more convoluted episodes in the state’s long and itself convoluted racing history.

“Acquiring the Preakness intellectual property secures one of Maryland’s signature assets and creates an opportunity to generate even greater economic value through tourism, business investment, sponsorship, job creation, and cultural activity,” Greater Baltimore Committee CEO Mark Anthony Thomas said in a statement.

The issue arose because the agreement cobbled together by the Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority (MTROA), negotiating on the state’s behalf, and longtime track operator the Stronach Group (1/ST Racing), enabled 1/ST’s exit from the state and the state’s acquisition of Pimlico but permitted 1/ST to retain ownership of the Preakness intellectual property.

In return for an exclusive license to run the Preakness and Black-Eyed Susan, Maryland’s track operator was on the hook to pay 1/ST a base payment of $3 million – rising by 2.5% annually – along with 2% of total handle from Preakness weekend. With handle at approximately $130 million this year, that would have called for an additional payment of $2.6 million, bringing the total for the year to $5.6 million.

The MTROA was abruptly shuttered by the state legislature in 2025, two years prior to expectations, and subsequently slammed in a report for its lax cost controls and “noncompliance” with legal requirements. Then its major purchase – Shamrock Farm, to be the Thoroughbred industry training center – went up in smoke, deemed unsuitable by the Maryland Stadium Authority.

On April 21, Churchill Downs Inc. issued a release saying it had “entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the intellectual property, including all trademarks and associated rights, of the Preakness Stakes and Black-Eyed Susan Stakes.”

That caught the Maryland racing community entirely off-guard: “blindsided,” one industry insider termed it.

Some, recalling Churchill’s closure of Arlington Park, among other tracks, feared the worst. Others, noting that Churchill’s stewardship of the Kentucky Derby has transformed that from an important race to a colossus bestride the racing world, hoped for the best.

With the state providing hundreds of millions of dollars in support for the revitalized Pimlico and new training center, leaders deemed it essential to take additional steps to help firm up the industry’s long-term economic prospects. Indeed, Moore touted the state’s “historic investments” in Pimlico in his statement.

The debt service on the bonds is expected to be roughly equivalent to what the annual payments would have been, amounting to roughly $200 million over 30 years. That means, in essence, that the state has swapped out a lease for a mortgage on the Middle Jewel.

Get tickets now!

Pick up reliable and rewarding tickets for major events!

Frank Vespe

Frank Vespe, the founder and publisher of The Racing Biz, has owned, bought, sold, claimed, written, and talked about horses, in varying combinations, for a decade. Email him at [email protected] or follow him on twitter @TheRacingBiz.

LATEST NEWS