Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty will not run in the Preakness Stakes, ending any chance at a Triple Crown for a seventh consecutive year, per the AP. "We want to do what's best for the horse," trainer Bill Mott told reporters at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. "Of course, you always think about a Triple Crown," but it's not to be this year. This is the fourth time since Justify won all three races in 2018 that the Preakness will go on without a true shot at the Triple Crown.
The two-week turnaround from the Kentucky Derby to the Preakness and changes in modern racing have sparked debate about spacing out the races. One prominent owner, Mike Repole, floated a proposal on Tuesday to move the Belmont to second in the Triple Crown order—four weeks after the Kentucky Derby—and slide the Preakness back further with the aim of keeping more of the top horses involved.
Dan Wolken makes the case for a change at USA Today, writing, "The modern racehorse is not bred or built to run three long races in five weeks, and there isn't a single high-level trainer in the country that would put their horse through that gauntlet unless there was a historic achievement on the line. ... Those who have resisted adding some time between the races have long argued that it cheapens the achievement if you remove part of the challenge. But what's actually been happening over the last several years is that so few horses run in all three races it's already being cheapened." (Read his full column here.)
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