The Kentucky Derby Winner Is Once Again Skipping The Preakness And It's Clearly Time To Modernize The Outdated Triple Crown
Disappointing? Yes.
Surprising? Absolutely not.
For the second straight year, third time in the last five years, and the sixth time in the last eight years, the Kentucky Derby winner will bypass the Preakness.
Michael Reaves. Getty Images.Golden Tempo won a thrilling rendition of the Derby, coming from the back of the pack to pull the 23-1 upset win. Golden Tempo had a campaign that made running in the Preakness a sensible move, since he had only four races this year. But trainer Cherie DeVaux - who has never run a horse back in less than 14 days - announced the connections would bypass the race and target the Belmont Stakes on June 6 at Saratoga.
So, I actually agree with both Dave and Dan on this: I'm not mad, but it does suck.
The current Triple Crown format is wildly outdated for 2026 racing. Horses run less and almost never come back in two weeks, especially stakes horses like the ones that run in the Derby
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Owners don't want to run back horses in two weeks. Neither do trainers. Once Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott bypassed the race with Sovereignty last year, it opened the door for everyone else to follow suit.
JHU Sheridan Libraries/Gado. Getty Images.For years, if the Derby winner was healthy, they were a lock for the Preakness. Between 1997 and 2018, every Kentucky Derby winner went on to compete in the Preakness. Now we have back-to-back years where a healthy Derby winner will skip the trip to Maryland.
For better or worse, the Triple Crown is racing's best marketing tool. TV ratings for Saturday's Derby were the highest EVER for the historic race. Now, when fans tune into the Preakness, they will once again be asking, "Where is the Derby winner?" And not just the Derby winner - as of Wednesday night, only third-place finisher and 70-1 Derby longshot Ocelli is considered probable for the race.
No other Derby runners are expected to make the Preakness push.
I see this shit all the time…The Triple Crown is supposed to be hard…Don't mess with History….It's TRADITION.
Wake up! The game has changed. The goal of the Triple Crown should be to encourage participation from the best three-year-olds - it's crystal clear this current format does not come close to doing that, with the Preakness scheduled two weeks after the Derby.
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I love that Journalism ran in all three Triple Crown races last year. But these days, he's the exception, not the norm. Only three horses ran in the Derby-Preakness exacta last year. And just three the year before that, in what ended up being a small, eight-horse field.
It's clearly time for a change. The TV deal for the Preakness is up after this year. With the news that Churchill Downs bought the IP rights to the Preakness and, for all intents and purposes, is taking over the race, it's likely we will change as soon as next year. Moving it will increase its value.
The most likely scenario would see the Preakness pushed back to three weeks after the Derby, and the Belmont Stakes pushed back a week to keep pace. Will it help to get more Derby horses to run back? I hope so, but I'm not 100% convinced. But I would be all for it - horse racing gets way too stuck in the past and refuses to embrace change. If they're going to do this, they need to add a bonus system to award money to connections that run in all three of the Derby, Preakness, and Belmont. I'd add in races like the Haskell, Travers, and Breeders' Cup Classic, too.
But if racing wants to really make a change, it's simple:
Kentucky Derby- 1st Saturday in May
Preakness - 1st Saturday in June
Belmont Stakes - 1st Saturday in July (at the brand new, spacious Belmont Park in Elmont, NY.
Add your bonuses and build out a full season. You'd get to see more of those Derby runners in premier races over the course of months, not weeks. That's great marketing for the sport.
Change doesn't have to suck. Racing seems deathly afraid of it when it comes to these races. Modernizing the schedule for 2026 doesn't take away from what the other Triple Crown winners did. There was a time the National League didn't have a DH. The NFL didn't have a two-point conversion. Change can be good. This will become more evident when we get a monster ratings drop off for the Preakness after a record Derby.
If we want this Triple Crown series to matter again, we can’t keep clinging to a schedule that no longer fits the modern sport. Fans tune into the Preakness for a chance to see history. When they tune in next Saturday, for a second straight Preakness, they'll be asking where the Derby winner is and why he's not in the race.