Kentucky Derby Winner, Golden Tempo, Skipping the 2026 Preakness Stakes

The 2026 Kentucky Derby was one of the most exciting in recent memory and smashed TV ratings in the process. In the race, Golden Tempo, who entered as an extreme long shot, rallied from last to first, making history along the way. The horse’s win made Cherie DeVaux the first woman trainer to ever win The Run for the Roses and just the second female to ever claim a Triple Crown race.

That led to many looking forward to the 2026 Preakness Stakes—The Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown—two weeks later on Saturday, May 16. Golden Tempo had become must-see TV with his performance at Churchill Downs, however, the sports world was disappointed with the revelation that DeVaux made on Wednesday. She announced that Golden Tempo would bypass the Preakness Stakes and instead point to the Belmont Stakes on June 6. Thus, and once again, a healthy Kentucky Derby champion is skipping the opportunity to compete for the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, an achievement which has been accomplished just 13 times since the inauguration of all three races came into existence in 1875.

DeVaux announced the news on social media in a statement saying that the horse, who has never raced with fewer than four weeks of rest in his career, needed more time than the two-week turnaround between the Derby and Preakness.

“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. His health, happiness and long-term future will always remain our top priority,” the statement read.

“We are looking forward to pointing him toward the Belmont Stakes, and we are excited for what lies ahead with this very special horse.”

Shortly after winning the Derby on Saturday, DeVaux said she was undecided on whether Golden Tempo would run in the Preakness. She then held that stance in a Tuesday interview on “The Pat McAfee Show” and said her team would reevaluate him in a couple of days.

“He’s going to go back to the track tomorrow,” DeVaux said on Tuesday. “We’re gonna give him a couple of days. Golden Tempo is going to dictate the decision. But we’re also going to talk about whether we think a cutback in distance of two weeks of rest really is what’s best for him. So, there’s a lot of conversation right now.”

It turned out DeVaux’s horseracing team needed less than one day to decide on the horse’s future. Despite the Preakness being a shorter distance than the Kentucky Derby, Golden Tempo becomes the latest, healthy Derby champion to skip the race nicknamed The Run for the Black-Eyed Susans.

Just last year, Sovereignty had the same decision on whether to run in the Preakness after winning the Derby. His connections also elected to bypass the former, pointing to the Belmont Stakes. The horse ended up winning the Belmont, thus claiming the first and last legs of the Triple Crown. But that only left fans wondering “what if” in regard to the horse running in the Preakness and having a chance to become the first horse since Justify (2018) to complete the Triple Crown.

Golden Tempo is the third Derby winner over the last five years to bypass the Preakness Stakes, as apart from Sovereignty, Rich Strike (2022) also skipped it. Unlike Sovereignty, Rich Strike didn’t experience the same success afterward as he finished sixth out of eight horses while he competed in the Belmont Stakes. Rich Strike would never win another race after the Kentucky Derby, going 0 for 6, before retiring in 2023.

Decisions like these have the Preakness Stakes reportedly mulling the decision to shift back one week in the future. That would allow three weeks in between the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, which would, in theory, make the latter more amenable to Derby champions competing in it. That proposed shift would then also force the Belmont Stakes to shift one week later, so that there are three weeks in between both the first and second, as well as the second and third, legs of the Triple Crown.

While DeVaux’s decision is in the best interest of the horse, there is also an added incentive in Golden Tempo’s next start coming at the Belmont Stakes, as it would make a homecoming for the trainer. DeVaux was born in Saratoga Springs, which is in Upstate New York, and the Belmont Stakes also takes place in the Empire State.

The Third Jewel of the Triple Crown is normally held at Belmont Park on Long Island, but due to ongoing construction at the racetrack, the 2026 Belmont Stakes is being held at a temporary location. That location just happens to be Saratoga Race Course, in the same city in which DeVaux was born.