McCarthy says Journalism could return to Saratoga later this summer

Journalism could still become one of Saratoga’s defining names of the summer, and Michael McCarthy made clear he would welcome that outcome. “It would be awfully nice if he could,” McCarthy said during Belmont week, adding that Saratoga “is a magical place for horses and people alike.”

That kind of language matters because Journalism is not just another good 3-year-old. He is the 2025 Preakness Stakes winner, and he also captured the Santa Anita Derby and Haskell Stakes. The colt already sits near the center of the season’s class picture, which is why any hint that he might return to Saratoga carries real weight for the meet’s biggest races and its most invested fans.

The last Saratoga meeting between the top 3-year-olds already delivered a clear benchmark. In the 2025 Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course, Sovereignty beat Journalism by three lengths in 2:00.69 before a crowd of 46,243. That result kept the rivalry alive and fed the summer conversation around whether the two would meet again, with the Travers Stakes emerging as the obvious target if both colts stayed on course.

Now the 2026 Saratoga calendar gives that possibility a firm frame. Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York, will host 51 days of racing, opening Friday, July 3 and continuing through Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 7. The stakes menu is deep, with more than 70 stakes races worth over $23 million in purses, and the Travers is set for Saturday, Aug. 29. If Journalism lands in that sequence, he would instantly change the complexion of the meet, from wagering interest to the quality of the late-summer feature races.

Aron Wellman, the managing partner of Journalism’s ownership group at Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, has also said he hopes Journalism gets the chance to race in 2026 and has described the colt as one who could be even better and stronger as a 4-year-old. That leaves the next decisions especially important: whether the team keeps him pointed toward Saratoga, whether he stays healthy through the summer, and whether the Travers becomes the stage for another marquee chapter. For a meet built on recognizable names and high-end stakes, few would matter more than Journalism.