Preakness 2026 at Laurel Park: No Infield, 4,800 Attendance Cap, and $246 Tickets – RIP to the Freakness Party...At Least For This Year

RIP Preakness Porta-Pottie Runs...at least for 2026. 

The Second Jewel of the Triple Crown, The Preakness, is the least important. I say that as someone who loves The Preakness. But especially recently, as it's become increasingly common for the Kentucky Derby winner to bypass the race in favor of the Belmont Stakes, it has lost much of its luster. 

Just last year, Derby winner Sovereignty (who went on to win Horse of the Year) and trainer Bill Mott skipped the Preakness, citing the short, two-week turnaround time. Three years before that, Rich Strike passed on Pimlico. It sucks, but horse racing needs to adjust its Triple Crown schedule to reflect the reality that horses are running less and getting more rest than they did even 20 years ago. But that's for a different blog for a few months from now. 

What the Preakness lacks in prestige, though, it makes up for with Party. The infield at Pimlico might have been the biggest party in horse racing. 

Todd Olszewski. Getty Images.

Baltimore Sun. Getty Images.

Patrick Smith. Getty Images.

Doug Pensinger. Getty Images.

And look, some of these pictures are from a bygone era, when the Pimlico Infield was BYOB. That ended about a decade ago, replaced by more organized chaos. We may never see those Porta-Potty Gauntlets again in our lifetime. Sad. 

But I was there even after the BYOB Ban (2011 shout out Shackleford), and it was wild. We had seats that gave us access to go to the infield - we lasted about 10 minutes. Even by then, I was too washed up to hang out there, but it was a scene. 

We sure as shit won't see anything like that from the Preakness Infield in 2026. That's because, thanks to renovations at Pimlico, this year's Preakness will be held at Laurel Park in Laurel, MD. 

I have not been to Laurel Park. It seems nice. But it ain't Pilmlio. 

And it won't feel like a Preakness at Pimlico. Laurel announced they're capping attendance at just 4,800 for this year's running. While Pimlico is undergoing a major $400–500 million renovation, so is Laurel, as they get ready to host more live racing year-round. 

But 4,800 is a far cry from the estimated 63,000 that attended the Friday-Saturday of Preakness last year. 

Look, the Preakness at Pimlico felt like The People's Triple Crown Race; this one at Laurel looks like a much fancier (more fancy?) day at the races. DRF.com reported tickets will range from $246 (!) for general admission for the two days (you have to buy both days) to $1,698 (!!) for the Turfside Terrace. A total of just 1,000 general admission tickets will be made available to the public. That stinks. There will also be luxury suite experiences, but we don't have prices for them yet. Spoiler - it won't be cheap. 

Emilee Chinn. Getty Images.

The Pimlico renovation is supposed to modernize a building that is much in need of it. Everything I've read says the infield WILL come back once they move back to Pimlico next year. 

I hope when it comes back, it's not some super-exclusive event. The Preakness never felt like that - it should not feel like that. 

With this limited inventory and ticket price, thousands of racing fans won't be able to attend this year. The 2026 Preakness will be sort of a 'new' Preakness. I already miss the old one. 

Maybe we won't get back to co-eds trying to navigate dozens of Toliet Tops, but hopefully it's closer to that than to some VIP-only event when it returns to Pimlico next spring.