There will be no Triple Crown in horse racing this year.
Golden Tempo, a 23-1 longshot who rallied down the stretch to win the Kentucky Derby, will not race in the Preakness on May 16, the Louisville Courier Journal reported.
Trainer Cherie DeVaux, who made history by becoming the first female trainer to win a Kentucky Derby, made the announcement on Wednesday.
“Golden gave us the race of a lifetime in the Kentucky Derby, and we believe the best decision for him moving forward is to give him a little more time following such a tremendous effort,” DeVaux wrote on X. “His health, happiness and long-term future will always remain our top priority.”
Preakness announcement pic.twitter.com/8JQu7VZlRC
— Cherie DeVaux (@reredevaux) May 6, 2026
Golden Tempo is the third Derby winner in five years to skip the Preakness, The Associated Press reported.
It is also the sixth time in eight years the Preakness will be held with no chance of a Triple Crown winner. Rich Strike (2022) and Sovereignty (2025) also missed the Preakness, according to the Courier Journal.
American Pharoah in 2015 and Justify in 2018 are the only horses to win all three races over the past four decades, the AP reported.
DeVaux said that Golden Tempo, who won the Derby by a neck over Renegade, is on target to race in the Belmont Stakes on June 6 at Saratoga.
The Preakness, the second jewel of horse racing’s Triple Crown, will be held at Laurel Park this year. Pimlico Race Course, which has hosted the race since its debut in 1873, is being renovated this year.
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