Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo will skip the May 16 Preakness Stakes and instead be pointed to the Belmont Stakes on June 6, trainer Cherie DeVaux announced Wednesday. Golden Tempo, who edged out the field to take the Run for the Roses by a nose, will be given extra recovery time after his dramatic effort in Louisville, DeVaux said in a statement posted to X.
“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. The decision leaves the Preakness — traditionally run two weeks after the Derby — without its most recent winner for the second straight year; Sovereignty, last year’s Derby champion, also bypassed the Preakness.
Golden Tempo’s absence underlines a growing rift over the Triple Crown’s mid-May Preakness date. Many trainers and owners argue that the current two-week turnaround between the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness is insufficient for top-level three-year-olds coming out of the grueling 1 1/4-mile Derby, and that the sprint to the middle jewel can jeopardize a horse’s condition for summer and autumn targets. The trend of Derby winners skipping the Preakness has intensified that debate and fueled calls for the series’ format to be revisited.
There is an added wrinkle this year as negotiations for the Preakness’ television rights are under way and the race’s date could become a bargaining point in those talks. Organizers have faced mounting pressure to adapt the Triple Crown schedule to the realities of modern Thoroughbred training, with some stakeholders favoring a longer spacing between major classics to promote equine welfare and preserve the quality of top-level racing later in the season.
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This year’s Preakness will be staged at Laurel Park, just south of Baltimore, because Pimlico Race Course is undergoing a major grandstand renovation; the Preakness is scheduled to return to its historic Pimlico home in 2027. As of Wednesday, none of the 19 horses that ran in this year’s Kentucky Derby had committed to the Preakness, leaving the field for the second jewel wide open and potentially weakening the traditional Derby-to-Preakness rematch narrative.
By targeting the Belmont Stakes on June 6 — a race that is run at 1 1/2 miles and typically three weeks after the Preakness — Golden Tempo’s connections are signaling a preference for longer recovery and a different trajectory through the Triple Crown season. The move will also shift attention to which Derby alumni do elect to run at Laurel Park and whether the Preakness will adapt in the coming years to retain top talent in its starting gate.
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Golden Tempo’s withdrawal continues a recent pattern that could force racing authorities and broadcasters to make difficult choices about tradition versus the health and sustainability of elite three-year-old racing. For now, the immediate fallout is a Preakness without the reigning Kentucky Derby winner and a Derby champion preparing for the longer Belmont test.
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