Golden Tempo crossed the finish line Saturday at Churchill Downs, winning the 152nd Kentucky Derby and immediately turning attention to a question that has gone unanswered for eight years: Can he win the Triple Crown?
That starts in two weeks with The Preakness Stakes.
The last horse to win the Triple Crown – the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes – was Justify in 2018. Since then, seven consecutive Kentucky Derby winners have failed to complete the sweep. Four of those horses never even tried, skipping the Preakness Stakes entirely.
Last year’s winner, Sovereignty, trained by Bill Mott, bypassed the Preakness just days after winning the Derby, citing the horse’s long-term interests. Since 2019, four Kentucky Derby winners have not raced in the Preakness, a shift driven by modern training strategies that prioritize spacing races further apart. Sovereignty went on to win the Belmont Stakes and earned Horse of the Year honors, validating Mott’s decision, but also deepening the debate about whether the Triple Crown format needs to change.
The question now is whether Golden Tempo’s connections will take the shot.
When is the Preakness? Triple Crown race schedule
If they do, the Preakness is May 16, just two weeks after the Derby. For the first time in the race’s history, it will be held at Laurel Park in Laurel, Maryland, while its traditional home at Pimlico Race Course undergoes a $400 million renovation. Post positions will be drawn May 11.
If Golden Tempo can win that, the Belmont Stakes awaits on June 6 at Saratoga Racecourse in Saratoga Springs, New York. The 158th Belmont Stakes will again be run at 1 ¼ miles rather than its traditional 1 ½ miles due to Saratoga’s track configuration. There is a $2 million purse on the line in the third and final Belmont Stakes to be held in Saratoga. The newly rebuilt Belmont Park is set to reopen in September of 2026.
The Triple Crown is one of the hardest achievements in American sports. Only 13 horses have won it in all of racing history. Sir Barton became the first Triple Crown winner in 1919, though the term itself did not come into common usage until 1930. Sportswriter Charles Hatton coined the phrase after Gallant Fox swept all three races. The most recent winners are American Pharoah in 2015 and Justify in 2018. The three-year gap was a surprise, considering the 37-year drought between Affirmed in 1978 and American Pharoah.
There have been voices in the sport calling for a new schedule, which would make it easier for horses to compete in the Triple Crown. After Sovereignty won the Preakness in 2025, owner Mike Repole proposed moving the Belmont to second in the Triple Crown order to keep more top horses in the series.
