Golden Tempo to Skip Preakness After Kentucky Derby Win, Won't Compete for Triple Crown

There will be no Triple Crown in 2026, extending that drought to eight years.

On Wednesday, Cherie DeVaux Racing announced that Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo would be held out of The Preakness:

Justify (2018) and American Pharoah (2015) are the only two horses to win the Triple Crown in the past 48 years.

But skipping The Preakness has become standard fare for Kentucky Derby winners in modern horse racing. Golden Tempo is now the third Derby winner in the past five years to shun The Preakness. It's the sixth time in the past eight years that the second leg of the Triple Crown will be held without a Triple Crown still possible.

As the Associated Press noted, "The two-week turnaround from the Derby to the Preakness, which used to be commonplace, is considered a nonstarter for many trainers and owners given that most elite thoroughbreds now typically go a month or more between races. It has caused endless debate in horse racing circles about the spacing of the Triple Crown in modern times."

This year, the Preakness won't feature a single horse that ran at the Kentucky Derby, and the AP noted that Maryland horse-racing officials are considering pushing back the event by one week going forward.

Golden Tempo was a 23-1 long shot to win the Kentucky Derby but ran a race for the ages, going from last place in the 18-horse field before spectacular charge down the final stretch.

Golden Tempo's tendency to start slow and finish strong may not have played as well on the shorter Preakness track anyway. But now we'll never know if it would have mattered, as racing fans are left to lament another year without any Triple Crown drama at The Preakness or Belmont Stakes.