golden tempo preakness is off the board next weekend. Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo will skip the race after trainer Cherie DeVaux and the owners decided to point the colt toward the Belmont Stakes on June 6 at Saratoga Race Course.
DeVaux announced the move on Wednesday after Golden Tempo’s Derby win as a 23-1 long shot. He rallied from the back of the pack and edged morning line favorite Renegade by a neck, a finish that left the colt with a demanding turnaround just two weeks later.
DeVaux Chooses Belmont Path
“We are incredibly appreciative of the excitement and support surrounding the possibility of a Triple Crown run,” DeVaux said in her statement Wednesday. She added, “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.”
She also said, “His health, happiness and long-term future will always remain our top priority.” That puts Golden Tempo on a direct path to Saratoga Springs, where DeVaux said she is from, and away from the quick return to the middle jewel of the Triple Crown.
Preakness Without Derby Runners
The field lost more than one Derby name. None of the 18 horses who ran in this year’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs are heading to the Preakness, leaving the race without a Derby runner for the first time this cycle.
The absence fits a wider trend. Golden Tempo is the third Derby winner in the past five years not to be entered in the Preakness, and this is the sixth time in eight years that the second leg of the Triple Crown will run without any chance at a sweep.
Triple Crown Path at Saratoga
The Preakness is being held at Laurel Park this spring while Pimlico Race Course is rebuilt, with Pimlico set to become the site for year-round racing in Maryland beginning next year when the state takes control from 1/ST Racing.
American Pharoah in 2015 and Justify in 2018 remain the only horses to sweep all three races over the past four decades. For Golden Tempo, the decision keeps the focus on June 6 and gives the Derby winner more time after the comeback that changed the spring campaign.
