By the numbers: Fewer Derby horses are coming back for the Preakness
The Kentucky Derby-Preakness pipeline has thinned sharply in recent years, and Golden Tempo is the latest example of that shift.
Much hullabaloo has been made about Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo skipping the Preakness Stakes. There have been opinion pieces calling for the sport to make it more feasible to run both races. And trainer Chad Brown told the Associated Press that horses “benefit from more time in between races,” while fellow trainer Brad Cox said even moving the Preakness back one week may not be enough for top three-year-olds coming out of the Derby.
It’s the fifth time in eight years that the Kentucky Derby winner has skipped the second jewel of horse racing’s Triple Crown. In 2019, Country House didn’t run the Preakness, followed by Mandaloun in 2021, Rich Strike in 2022 and Sovereignty in 2025. There hasn’t been a Triple Crown winner since Justify in 2018.
However, it’s not just the winners skipping out on the Preakness. According to a USA TODAY analysis of Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes data, more horses in general aren’t running both races. Between 1970 and 2018, 50.
9 percent of the overall Preakness field also ran in the Kentucky Derby. Since 2019, the average is just 29. 6 percent, a 21.