In an article posted last week in Sports Business Journal, it was reported that the GI Preakness Stakes would be pushed back a week next year to be run three weeks after the GI Kentucky Derby and that the GI Belmont Stakes would also be pushed back by a week. The stir the article caused quickly died down when Maryland Jockey Club President and General Manager Bill Knauf denied that any decisions had been made regarding the date of next year's Preakness.But the story did get some important things right, namely that the media rights for next year's Preakness are still being negotiated and that whoever lands the Preakness could decide the fate of the Triple Crown schedule.Only those who are clinging to the past and believe that tradition is more important than practicality still believe that the three races should be run over the span of five weeks. Very few trainers are willing to bring their horses back off two weeks' rest to go from the Derby to the Preakness, which has decimated the middle jewel of the Triple Crown. Worse yet, there's no longer any guarantee that the Derby winner will run back in the Preakness. Two of the last four Derby winners passed the Preakness to wait for the Belmont.The defection last year of Sovereignty (Into Mischief) was particularly stinging. Easily the best 3-year-old colt in the country at the time, there's every chance that, had he run in the Preakness, he would have won the Triple Crown. His trainer, Bill Mott, is among the most respected people in his profession, and his peers follow his lead. If Mott doesn't think it's a good idea to run the Derby winner back in the Preakness, that's a message that is sure to resonate. As long as the Triple Crown schedule remains as it is, this is a trend that is not going to go away.The operators of the Preakness have tried to move the race before. In 2023, 1/ST Racing, then the owner of Pimlico, announced that it was giving strong consideration to moving the Preakness, scheduling it to be run four weeks after the Derby. That idea went nowhere when New York Racing Association refused to push back the date of the Belmont. As long as NYRA will not change the date of the Belmont, the Preakness is boxed in, and has nowhere to go.NYRA has always been the roadblock when it comes to changing the spacing of the Triple Crown. It appears that it sees no benefit in doing so when the Belmont has emerged as a much stronger race than the Preakness and is almost always going to see the Derby winner, as long as he stays healthy, in the field.But here's where the media rights bidding for the Preakness comes in:The contract between NBC and the newly established Maryland Jockey Club, which has taken over the operation of Maryland racing from 1/ST, expires after this year's race. Knauf confirmed to the TDN that he and his team are “speaking with all potential rights holders, including NBC and FOX, who are clearly major racing stakeholders, as well as with streaming services that have demonstrated interest in major sports events.”There's little doubt that Fox will be very aggressive in its pursuit of the Preakness, and that's a good thing. The network has embraced racing like no network ever has. In 2022, it outbid all others to acquire the media rights to the Belmont, part of a strategy where it has become an important partner with NYRA. It has acquired a 25% interest in NYRA's ADW, NYRA Bets, and provides New York racing with nearly year-round invaluable coverage of its races through the “America's Day at the Races” and “Saratoga Live” programs.While the rights may go to the highest bidder, Fox can offer Pimlico something no one else can, exposure of its races on the Fox racing shows. That is something that would benefit Maryland racing as the added exposure would be sure to boost handle. That became even more important when it was announced that FanDuel TV will go off the air by the end of 2027.If Fox is on board with both NYRA and the Maryland Jockey Club, the entire equation would be changed. Fox obviously doesn't want to go into this knowing that it is buying the rights to a watered-down Preakness. It's in Fox's best interests for the race to be revitalized and the only way that is going to happen is if the schedule is changed and the Preakness and Belmont are both moved back. It's in NYRA's best interest to keep Fox happy.If someone else, NBC included, gets the future rights to the Preakness, NYRA will have less incentive to play ball with Maryland and move the date of the Belmont.(That NYRA is such a stickler about keeping the Belmont where it is is baffling. If the Derby winner keeps passing the Preakness year after year, you're not going to see any horses going for the Triple Crown. The Belmont is always a good event. The Belmont with a Triple Crown on the line is a great event.)The Sports Business Journal article discussed putting three weeks between the races. That's not enough. There needs to be at least four. Better yet, the races should be run on the first Saturday in May, the first Saturday in June and the first Saturday in July.But that's a subject for another day. First, let's establish a willingness between NYRA and the Maryland Jockey Club to work together to improve both races and the flagging Triple Crown series. The best way for that to happen is for Fox to get the rights to the Preakness, flex its muscles and insist on a schedule that will guarantee the best Triple Crown series possible and, therefore, the best ratings.At Last, Progress on the SAFE ActIt was a good week for the Save America's Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act.An act that has been languishing in Congress for some 20 years, if passed, it would, among other things, prohibit the transportation of horses into Mexico or Canada for the purpose of being slaughtered. With the slaughter buyers having nowhere to sell their horses, horse slaughter, as we know it, would come to an end.As a whole, the industry has done very little to help get the SAFE Act into the end zone, but, last week, 1/ST Racing, The Jockey Club and the Breeders' Cup all came out with statements expressing their support of the act.The support of three important racing organizations can only help, but someone still has to do the heavy lifting, which means meeting with lawmakers to convince them this is something that has to be done. And someone is. It's Mike Repole.His right-hand man, Pat Cummings, tweeted last week that he has made two trips to Washington D.C. to meet with legislators to discuss the SAFE Act. Repole hired Chris Heyde, an animal-welfare lobbyist and the founder of Blue Marble Strategies, to work with Cummings and help open doors for him. No one has worked harder on this issue than Heyde, who is the main reason that horse slaughter is effectively banned in the U.S.Cummings tweeted: “Wrapping two days in DC and a dozen meetings with legislators and staffers on the SAFE Act. Very optimistic on a path forward to finally get this done.”Beyond that, he didn't want to say much more and give out specifics about who he spoke to or what larger bill the SAFE Act might wind up in. Few believe it will ever go anywhere if it is introduced as a stand-alone bill. He knows that things can change rapidly in Washington and that politicians can change their minds, which is why the strategy is to keep many details under wraps, at least for now.But he came away from his meetings in the nation's capital optimistic that the SAFE Act is on its way to becoming the law of the land.“I am very optimistic,” he said. “I saw it with my own eyes. I think that's very important. And it's not just about telling your story, but it's about gauging the response from the legislators directly, and that's been overwhelming. Chris Heyde even said, 'This doesn't normally happen this way. This is really good feedback and reactions that we've gotten here.' So my confidence level is cautiously higher than it's ever been. I feel better now than I did [before his first trip to Washington]. I am more confident having come back. I'm not dejected. It wasn't like, 'Oh, geez, we're in trouble here.' No, it's the opposite. I feel more positive coming back from DC than I did even going in.”The post The Week in Review: Can FOX Save the Triple Crown? appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.