OK, so who killed the Triple Crown? Only three of the 18 runners in the May 2 Kentucky Derby (G1) are at Laurel Park for the Preakness Stakes (G1) May 16, with Derby winner Golden Tempo chief among the missing.
Was it Eddie Gregson, the trainer of 1982 Kentucky Derby hero Gato Del Sol, who stood on the winner's stand at Churchill Downs and told ABC's Jim McKay that, nah, he'd be passing up the Preakness Stakes to train for the Belmont Stakes (G1)? Gregson felt the Belmont was more suited to his long-winded, galloping son of Cougar II.
Was it Robert Brennan, who dangled a multimillion-dollar bonus in front of Spend a Buck if he could add a couple of races in New Jersey to his victory in the 1985 Derby? When Spend a Buck's people took up the challenge, both the Preakness and the Belmont were out of the picture for the swift son of Buckaroo.
Was it the 1987 version of the Triple Crown Challenge—created to answer the Brennan offer—when Alysheba's victories in the Derby and Preakness were not good enough to take home the rich participation bonus for the series? Two out of three? Too bad.
Then again, maybe it was that agonizing eight-year stretch between 1997 and 2004 during which no less than six 3-year-olds arrived at the threshold of Triple Crown glory, accompanied by a swirl of media madness, only to trip and fall over the mile and one-half obstacle at Belmont Park. Even Lucy finally let Charlie Brown kick the football.
After 37 years without a Triple Crown winner, Bob Baffert suddenly made it look way too easy with American Pharoah in 2015 and Justify in 2018. That also means it has been 48 years since a trainer other than Baffert has won the Crown, a daunting stat, since the previous 11 Triple Crown winners were trained by 10 different guys (always splitting Citation between father and son Ben and Jimmy Jones).
Trainer Cherie DeVaux and her ownership were afforded convenient precedent to pass the Preakness with Golden Tempo by Bill Mott, who dodged the middle bullet in 2025 with Derby winner Sovereignty. Interestingly, in a head-scratching "Say what?" development, Mott reportedly encouraged his son, trainer Riley Mott, to give the Preakness a shot with sixth-place Derby finisher Incredibolt, "...if you feel like he's doing good."
(This begs a question about elder Mott's last two Derby runners, Sovereignty and Chief Wallabee. Both passed the Preakness because ... they weren't doing good?)
Riley Mott is one of seven trainers among the 14 with Preakness runners who were born in the years since Affirmed won the 1978 Triple Crown. If this passes for a youth movement, I'm all for it. The others include Chad Brown (Iron Honor), Whit Beckman (Ocelli), Chad Summers (Napoleon Solo), and Brittany Russell (Taj Mahal)—all of them given a good shot at the title—along with longshots trained by John Ennis (Great White) and Saffie Joseph Jr. (Bull by the Horns).
Doug O'Neill, who had just turned 10 when Affirmed won the Crown, is wheeling Calumet Farm's Robusta back from the Derby. The son of Accelerate, second earlier this year in the San Felipe Stakes (G2), could do no better than 14th. Since this will be O'Neill's fifth Preakness rodeo with a Derby runner—including Derby winners I'll Have Another and Nyquist —he was asked what it takes to make both races, and why he thinks the move has fallen out of fashion.
"Paul and Zillah Reddam, the owners of Nyquist and I'll Have Another, have a real love for the tradition and history of the Triple Crown," O'Neill said. "As long as the horses came out of the Derby good, they were eating good, and doing well, why wouldn't we go in the Preakness? It was kind of a no-brainer."
O'Neill has a distinct recollection of the controversy surrounding Gregson's decision to pass the middle jewel, which prompted columnist Jim Murray to call Gato Del Sol "Pollo del Sol" and Pimlico Race Course general manager Chick Lang to put a goat in the stall reserved for the Derby winner.
"When I heard that, I couldn't imagine that if I ever got lucky enough to win the Derby not trying to hit the Triple Crown," O'Neill said.
Today, in an atmosphere of hyper-vigilant regulatory veterinary exams, running a horse back in two weeks is all but discouraged, especially at the Triple Crown level.
"A horse can go into the Derby feeling like an 18-year-old Lebron and come out like a 41-year-old Lebron," O'Neill said. "It's a tough grind for these 3-year-olds, and you're training in a fishbowl. They're checking your horse every other day for about a week leading up to the races. We know horses can have a bad day, but if it comes on the day a regulatory vet is looking at them, you're red-flagged for a long time."
In order to make the gate for the Kentucky Derby, America's best available 3-year-olds are raced hard, though not often, then trained hard in the weeks leading up to the classic. The mandated 20-horse field usually precludes an honest trip for at least half the field. Were there a 14-horse Preakness a month down the road available as a high-class consolation—not to mention offering a place in history—much of the effort earned scrambling to make the Derby would not be wasted, and the quality of a Triple Crown event would be preserved.
"It's gotten to the point where if you're able to run back even in a month, you breathe a sigh of relief," O'Neill said. "But two weeks in a fishbowl, with the scrutiny of national TV, is a lot to ask to get some continuity with your top-end horses. We're missing top-notch horses in the Preakness because of the timing, that's for sure."
As it stands, with the Belmont Stakes occupying that sweet spot five weeks after the Derby, New York racing is the prime beneficiary of the modern trend. It can even be argued that for owners and trainers in certain regions, a sweep of the well-spaced Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes, and Travers Stakes (G1) is held in higher regard than the dusty old Triple Crown.
O'Neill's last Derby also-rans to compete in the Preakness were Happy Jack, who chased Early Voting to no avail in 2022, and Goldencents , who finished fifth behind Happy Jack's sire Oxbow in 2013, then went on to win back-to-back runnings of the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1).
"For them to be able to come out of the Derby and pass all the regulatory checks, you've got to be lucky," O'Neill said. "We have been with Robusta. Running 14th, maybe he didn't beat himself up too much in the Derby. He looks well, and he's definitely going to be fit enough.
"So I'm projecting his San Felipe and hoping a high 80s Beyer will be enough to win the race," O'Neill added, laughing a little at the sound of it. "I know he's at least got that in him."
If ever there was a good time to make adjustments in the Triple Crown, it is now. The eight years since Justify have been fraught with chaos and controversy.
In 2019, Maximum Security was disqualified for interference and Country House elevated to the victory. Neither ran in the Preakness. In Covid 2020, when the Crown was turned inside out, Authentic was beaten by Swiss Skydiver in the Preakness, a month after he won a September Derby.
In 2021, Mandaloun 's people didn't know they had won the Derby until the postrace positive of first-place finisher Medina Spirit was fully adjudicated. Medina Spirit ran in the Preakness, Mandaloun did not. Then came the recent cluster of three Preakness no-shows since 2022: Rich Strike , Sovereignty, and Golden Tempo.
O'Neill's Derby winners were never the same after the Preakness. I'll Have Another, who won a tough battle with Derby foe Bodemeister at Pimlico in 2012, sustained a soft tissue injury and was scratched on the eve of the Belmont. In 2016, Nyquist suffered his first defeat on a sloppy track in the Preakness, raced twice more without winning, and was retired to what has become a stellar stud career.
"I think the move to more time between the races is inevitable," O'Neill said. "I would have loved to have had three or four weeks between the Derby and Preakness for both of them. Who knows? It might have been a different story."
