Attendance for the 2026 Preakness Stakes at Laurel Park in Maryland will be limited to 4,800 people due to ongoing renovations. The event, scheduled for May 16, moves temporarily from its traditional Pimlico home, which is being rebuilt. Tickets will be available as two-day packages including the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes.
The Preakness Stakes, a key event in American horse racing, will take place on May 16, 2026, at Laurel Park in Maryland, its temporary venue while Pimlico Race Course undergoes demolition and reconstruction. The new structure at Pimlico is expected to host the race again in 2027. According to 1/ST Racing and Gaming, the company organizing the event, attendance will be capped at 4,800 tickets, a limitation stemming from renovations at Laurel Park as it prepares to become a year-round training center.
Tickets go on sale Wednesday and are offered exclusively as two-day packages covering the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (G2) on Friday, May 15, and the Preakness on Saturday. Among the options, 1,000 general admission tickets are priced at $246 each. Other tiers include temporary facilities along the rail, luxury suites near the first turn, and the grandstand simulcast area. Turfside Terrace packages cost $1,698, though pricing for luxury suites was not disclosed by 1/ST.
1/ST Racing and Gaming retains rights to the Preakness and Black-Eyed Susan Stakes through 2026 but has given up its deed to Pimlico as part of a state deal, ending its oversight of day-to-day racing operations in Maryland. Post-2026, the company will receive a licensing fee and a share of the handle from both days. 1/ST declined to specify its planned spending for staging the event at Laurel but stated that the attendance cap should not significantly impact accommodations for horsemen.
