No chance for a Triple Crown again stirs debate of when to run the races

Los Angeles Times

16-05-2025

BALTIMORE — Horse racing's biggest prize is winning the three legs of the Triple Crown — the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes. Three races in five weeks. It's difficult, which is why only 13 horses have done it in more than a century.
It probably goes without saying that to achieve that goal, a horse actually has to run in all three races. And therein lies the rub.
For the third time in seven years, the winner of the Kentucky Derby is not running in the Preakness Stakes. Many in racing believe that horses aren't trained, or even bred, to come back and race on two weeks' rest. Others say it's not that big of a deal to come back so quickly.
Horse racing embraces change about as well as giving your dog or cat a pill. It can be done, but it sure isn't easy.
Aidan Butler, the president of 1/ST Racing, which owned Pimlico Race Course at the time, stirred the discussion two years ago when he suggested racing needed to look at the spacing between the Triple Crown races. He thought the sport would benefit if there was at least one more week between the Derby and Preakness. It would have meant that the Belmont Stakes would also have to move at least a week.
Belinda Stronach, chairman of The Stronach Group, the parent company of 1/ST Racing, even called the New York Racing Assn. (NYRA) to lobby the case for changing the dates. NYRA didn't bite.
In hindsight, Butler thinks it was a case of bad timing.
'In fairness to NYRA, what and when I was suggesting a change, they were moving [the Belmont Stakes temporarily] to Saratoga,' Butler said. 'They changed the distance from 1 ½ miles to 1 ¼ miles. And there was the construction at Belmont Park . That's a lot to deal with. And we're asking to change the date. I think it was maybe too much too soon.'
While things quieted in the corporate offices, it remained a hot topic on the backstretch.
Bill Mott, the trainer of this year's Derby winner Sovereignty, ended the speculation early by saying he was skipping the Preakness on Saturday and pointing to the Belmont. Mott also skipped the Preakness when Country House won the 2019 Derby, although the stated reason was the horse developed a cough.
In 2022, Rich Strike, the longshot winner of the Derby, also skipped the Preakness because of the short turnaround.
Kenny McPeek, trainer of last year's Derby winner Mystik Dan, said on the Tony Kornheiser podcast that he wishes he would have made a different decision and not gone to the Preakness.
'If I could have a do-over, I wouldn't have gone last year,' McPeek said. 'I think it was a mistake on my part.'
This year only three of the nine Preakness starters ran in the Kentucky Derby: Journalism (2nd), Sandman (7th) and American Promise (16th). The Baltimore Sun surveyed all the Derby horses from 2022 to 2025 and found that only 10 of the 67 horses ran in both the Derby and Preakness. That's an abysmal 15% participation rate.
Michael McCarthy, trainer of Preakness favorite Journalism, would prefer to keep things the way they are.
'I think it's demanding and meant to separate the greats,' McCarthy said. 'I think it captivates the average observer for the five weeks. Sometimes there's some great stories involved. This year we're not going to have [a Triple Crown winner], but we're still going to have a great Triple Crown series.
'Obviously, with the Belmont going to Saratoga last year and this year, it makes for a little bit of a different kind of a series. … I'm a bit of a traditionalist in that way, but I think three races in five weeks is good.'
Wayne Lukas, who trains American Promise, has been around racing longer than anyone. The 89-year-old has won the Preakness seven times, including last year with Seize the Grey.
'I've been pushing for a change in that tradition for 20 years,' Lukas said. 'But then Bob Baffert comes up and wins [the Triple Crown] twice. So that silenced everybody pretty much.
'I thought that we could run the first Saturday in May and then run the Preakness on Memorial Day weekend … when everybody's off work and then run the Belmont on the Fourth of July. But in order to get that done, you got to have three race tracks agree. And that's really difficult.'
Baffert, who won the Triple Crown with American Pharoah and Justify and is running Goal Oriented in the Preakness, chooses to play Switzerland in this discussion.
'I don't get involved in that conversation because I'll do whatever [they want],' Baffert said. 'We should just take it to Santa Anita for one year. Bring it out there. Don't need your raincoats. Get a tan while you're out there.'
Trainer Mark Casse, who has Sandman in the Preakness, has changed his mind on the topic.
'For a long time, I've said 'No, I like the two weeks,' Casse said. 'It's not supposed to be easy. One of the things that drives me crazy is when people say, 'Well, this is the way we've always done it.' I believe that the world gets smarter every day, and if you stand still, you get run over.
'I think if we're going to continue losing Kentucky Derby winners because of the two weeks, then I think we got to really seriously look at making it maybe a month and a month.'
Butler brought up another theory as to why fewer horses run the first two legs of the Triple Crown.
'There's a lot of opportunities for 3-year-olds,' Butler said. 'When the Triple Crown was the Triple Crown back in the day, that was it for big money races and you wanted to be there. That's why you had a lot of the Derby horses running back to run for the money. Now, there are so many other opportunities, and two weeks doesn't fit in.'
The Preakness is considered the easiest of the three races to win. It has a field about half the size of the Derby, which is considered the most difficult of the three to win. It also is 1/16 of a mile shorter than the Derby and 5/16th of a mile shorter than a traditional Belmont Stakes.
Doug O'Neill, when he was campaigning Derby winner Nyquist in 2016, might have offered the best explanation of why running the Preakness two weeks after the Derby is a good idea.
'You're coming back so quick [after two weeks], you don't have time to screw them up,' O'Neill said.
The topic likely will remain quiet for 50 weeks until the connections of next year's Kentucky Derby winner decide to go to Baltimore or wait for New York.