Why Kentucky Derby Winners Skip Preakness Stakes More Often

For decades, it felt like a given: the Kentucky Derby winner would return in two weeks to contest the Preakness Stakes and keep their Triple Crown bid alive. However, in the span of less than a decade, a Kentucky Derby winner pressing on to the Preakness has gone from a given to an exciting development.

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Why Kentucky Derby Winner Golden Tempo Is Skipping the Preakness

After Golden Tempo upset the Kentucky Derby at odds of 23-1 on May 2 at Churchill Downs, trainer Cherie DeVaux did not immediately commit one way or the other to whether she would bring her horse to the Preakness Stakes. However, on May 6, she released a statement confirming that her horse would not continue to pursue horse racing’s Triple Crown.

“Golden gave us the race of a lifetime in the Kentucky Derby, and we believe that the best decision for him moving forward is to give him a little more time following such a tremendous effort,” the statement read. “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.”

Next Races for Recent Kentucky Derby Winners

Though this plan would have come as an earth-shattering surprise to horse racing fans less than ten years ago, it has become almost normal nowadays. One might guess that after Justify swept the Triple Crown in 2018, becoming the second Triple Crown winner in four years, the feat would seem as approachable as ever.

However, since then, fewer and fewer Kentucky Derby winners have tried to match his feat. In fact, Golden Tempo is the third Kentucky Derby winner out of the last five to be routed directly to the Belmont Stakes.

Starts-Per-Horse Trends in Recent Years

Seeing Kentucky Derby winners skip the Preakness Stakes more often falls in line with recent trends of racing horses less often.

General Racing Trends

According to the 2026 edition of the Jockey Club fact book, horses race less than they used to. The statistics go back to 1950, with numbers published every five years through 1990 and every year since. During that period, the high came in 1960, when horses raced an average of 11.31 times per year. By 1980, that figure was down to 9.21. In 1990, it was 7.94, in 2000 it was 7.10, and in 2010 it was 6.11. In 2020, it was an anomalously low 5.26 due to COVID cancellations, but even in 2025, the average horse made just 5.79 starts per year, the lowest of any published year except for the COVID-affected 2020.

Kentucky Derby Winner Trends

The Jockey Club Fact Book statistics cover all horses, of all ages and all class levels. But, even looking at the statistics of Kentucky Derby winners going back to 1937 (the oldest published by Churchill Downs), there is a trend of horses making fewer starts before they win the Kentucky Derby.

War Admiral, the 1937 Triple Crown winner, only raced eight times before winning the Kentucky Derby. That would make him seem very experienced nowadays – but made him lightly-raced by the standards of the mid-20th century. The following year’s Kentucky Derby winner, Lawrin, raced 23 times before winning the Kentucky Derby. Though that was a particularly high number (tied by Whirlaway in 1941 and overtaken only by Carry Back, who had run 28 times before winning the 1961 Kentucky Derby), it was common for a Kentucky Derby winner’s starts to be in the teens and low twenties, even into the 1970s and 1980s.

However, looking at start statistics for Kentucky Derby winners in recent decades reflects the choice of modern trainers to race most horses less often. Since 2000, only one Kentucky Derby winner has raced more than eight times before the Run for the Roses: California Chrome, trained by old-school Art Sherman, had run 10 times before the 2014 Derby.

Other Factors That May Influence the Choice Not to Run in the Preakness

Though the general trend toward racing horses less often is part of it, that cannot be all of it. After all, the trend toward racing less often has gone through the last few decades, and though it has continued in recent years, there hasn’t been a sharp downward inflection in either horse starts in general or in starts that a Kentucky Derby winner makes that would explain a precipitous drop in Preakness attempts by Kentucky Derby winners since 2019.

One hypothesis is that there are factors that matter more to trainers nowadays than the historic prestige of the Triple Crown. Those races are not the only big-money targets for a top three-year-old – there’s the Belmont, the Haskell (G1), the Travers (G1), the Pennsylvania Derby (G1), the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), as well as other possible targets. And though they may not be as well-known to the public outside the niche of horse racing, they’re still rich races that look good on stallion resumes, and can be targeted while keeping the horse on a more usual schedule of four or six or eight weeks between races instead of wheeling back in two weeks. In short, trainers can either turn their horse’s usual training regimen upside down and go for a Triple Crown run, or they spurn the Preakness and keep a horse doing what they’re accustomed to while still building a long-term career that fits racing and potential stallion interests.

Another could be increased veterinary oversight. With the advent of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, a regulatory body created by a 2020 law, there have been stricter and more standardized veterinary protocols in racing as a whole. This has led to high-profile scratches at meetings, including Triple Crown races and the Breeders’ Cup, and may be an incentive to give a horse more time and make sure everything is in tip-top shape before racing the horse again.

In short, there are many reasons that could weigh toward a trainer choosing to skip the Preakness Stakes with the Kentucky Derby winner – and there have only been eight Kentucky Derby winners since 2019, making it too small a sample to identify a single, overarching reason.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.