Golden Tempo will bypass the Preakness, taking the Triple Crown off the table

Put your dreams of a Triple Crown back on the shelf for another year. Cherie DeVaux, the trainer of Golden Tempo, just announced that the Kentucky Derby winner will skip the Preakness and prepare for the Belmont instead.

“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 social media. “His health, happiness, and long-term future will always remain our top priority.

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

Preakness announcement pic.twitter.com/8JQu7VZlRC

— Cherie DeVaux (@reredevaux) May 6, 2026

Golden Tempo came from behind to win the Derby as a 23-1 longshot, outrunning Renegade in the final stretch to take home the $3.1 million prize and make DeVaux the first female trainer to ever win the race. In the press tour that followed, DeVaux said they would monitor Golden Tempo this week to see how he came out of the Derby before deciding about the Preakness.

“He has to be sound, which you know, jogging up, making sure there’s no ailments, no little injury we’re missing, and then we’ll discuss as a group what is best for him,” she said on the TODAY Show on Monday.

This is the second year in a row the Kentucky Derby champion has skipped the Preakness. Last year, Sovereignty bypassed the race to focus on the Belmont and won it, taking home two of the three legs of the Triple Crown. In mid-April, the Sports Business Journal reported that the Preakness may be moved back a week starting in 2027, a decision that coincides with the end of NBC Sports’ contract with the race. Fox, which owns the rights to the Belmont Stakes, is reportedly making a play to acquire the rights to the Preakness and could move both races back a week, giving horses three weeks between each Triple Crown leg, which could lead to more Derby horses participating and increasing interest.

As a deep closer, Golden Tempo may be better suited for the Belmont, which is 1 and 1/2 miles long, vs. the Preakness, the shortest of the Triple Crown races at 1 and 3/16 miles. The Belmont will also be a homecoming for DeVaux, who grew up in Saratoga, where the race will take place this year due to renovations at Belmont Park. The Triple Crown not being on the table stinks for fans, but it will still be a full-circle moment for DeVaux, and may increase pressure to make some much-needed changes to the racing schedule.