There will not be a Triple Crown winner in 2026. Trainer Cherie DeVaux announced on Wednesday that Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo will skip the Preakness.
A wise decision. Golden Tempo's wheelhouse is the 1 1/4-mile distance of the Kentucky Derby and the upcoming Belmont at Saratoga Race Course, which also will be at 10 furlongs as Belmont Park continues to be rebuilt.
Another blow for Triple Crown
This marks the second straight year the Derby winner has bypassed the Preakness as Sovereignty did not run in it in 2025. The 2022 winner Rich Strike also skipped the second leg of the Triple Crown.
This year's race is at Laurel Park in Maryland. Attendance is capped at 4,800. Yes, there will be a Triple Crown race that will have 4,800 in attendance. It's mortifying. While Maryland wants to keep the race in state as Pimlico is renovated, running a Thoroughbred jewel before less than 5,000 fans is sad.
At some point, soon, the traditionalists will have to bow. Thoroughbreds are not built to run three races in five weeks, some aren't constructed to run one race every 35 days.
There already have been reports that Maryland plans to move the Preakness to three weeks after the Kentucky Derby once Pimlico reopens. That's a step in the right direction.
The move that seems ideal would be to run each leg of the Triple Crown on the first Saturday of a month. The Derby as it is traditionally contested on the first Saturday in May, the Pimlico on the first Saturday in June, and the Belmont on the first Saturday in July.
Yes, it would be different than the traditional schedule. But horses are no longer able to run the way they were decades ago. They are a more fine-tuned engine — think like a Ferrari — and need their rest and recuperation after a huge effort.
Would a Triple Crown that was won at Saratoga over a mile-and-a-quarter been a blot or blemish because it wasn't the actual "Test of the Champion" that mile-and-half Belmont is on Long Island?
Preakness tarnished
There were 24 horses entered in the Kentucky Derby, including also-eligibles. There is no guarantee any of them who actually ran in the Run for the Roses will try the Preakness.
Everyone loves betting into a 20-horse field. The odds are inflated on the favorites. But at what price? Everyone wants to have a horse run in the Derby, that's understood. However, when none come back two weeks later it speaks volumes about what connections think of the Triple Crown.
The Preakness might as well be considered The Weakness, given the lack of Derby horses and those looking at running on May 16. It feels like a glorified allowance race.
Give Cherie DeVaux all the credit in the world. She is looking out for what is best for Golden Tempo. The trainer can hopefully bring the Derby winner to her hometown of Saratoga for a great celebration of the accomplishment of becoming the first woman to train a winner of the Run for the Roses should he run in the Belmont Stakes.
As for the path of the Triple Crown, it needs to be changed. Three races in five weeks are impractical. Time to let common sense overcome nonsense.
This article originally appeared on The List Wire: Golden Tempo skipping Preakness, another blow to Triple Crown
