Preakness 2026: Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo to skip race

There will be no Triple Crown winner this year.

Golden Tempo, the 3-year-old colt who won the Kentucky Derby with a brilliant come-from-behind effort, will not run in the Preakness Stakes on May 16.

Trainer Cherie DeVaux posted in a statement on social media that she believes the “best decision for him moving forward is to give him a little more time following such a tremendous effort.”

“Golden gave us the race of a lifetime,” she wrote, days after becoming the first female trainer to win the Triple Crown’s first leg. “His health, happiness, and long-term future will always remain our top priority.”

DeVaux spent this week monitoring Golden Tempo’s condition after the last-to-first rally at Churchill Downs. The decision to forgo a Triple Crown chase and focus on the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course on June 6 means none of the 18 horses who ran in the Kentucky Derby are headed to the Preakness. Golden Tempo was the only one considered.

This makes three Kentucky Derby winners in the past five years to skip the Preakness. It’s the eighth consecutive year without a Triple Crown winner — the last being Bob Baffert’s Justify in 2018. Several trainers in recent years, including Sovereignty trainer Bill Mott last year and Eric Reed’s Rich Strike in 2022, have chosen to prioritize their horses’ health on a tight turnaround.

That’s what makes the Triple Crown chase so daunting; only 13 horses have accomplished the ultimate feat. Traditionalists favor the sanctity of the current calendar, while contemporary trainers prefer closer to a month of rest than the current two-week gap.

It has sparked annual debate among racing enthusiasts about whether the current Triple Crown calendar is what’s best for the sport. The Maryland Jockey Club told The Baltimore Sun last month that it is “open to all possibilities” regarding a potential change to the Preakness date as it searches for a new TV partner, a decision that should be made later this month.

This year’s Preakness was already shaping up to be an underwhelming spectacle.

For the first time since 1908, the racing weekend will be held at a track other than Pimlico, while “Old Hilltop” enjoys a $400-plus-million renovation. Laurel Park is expected to be just a one-year sidestep, and racing officials are hopeful for a return to racing in Baltimore in 2027.

This article will be updated. Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn.x.com.