Golden Tempo, the first Kentucky Derby winner to be trained by a woman, will not race at next weekend’s Preakness.
Trainer Cherie DeVaux announced the news Wednesday, explaining that her barn has Golden Tempo focused on the Belmont Stakes, which will be run in her native Saratoga Springs, New York for the third and final time this year.
‘We are incredibly appreciative of the excitement and support surrounding the possibility of a Triple Crown run,’ DeVaux said in a statement. ‘Golden gave us the race of a lifetime in the Kentucky Derby, and we believe the best decision for him moving forward is to give him a little more time following such a tremendous effort.
‘His health, happiness and long-term future will always remain our top priority.’
Golden Tempo is the third Derby winner in the past five years not to be entered in the Preakness.
For various reasons, it is the sixth time in eight years the Preakness will happen with no chance of a Triple Crown on the line. American Pharoah in 2015 and Justify in 2018 are the only horses to sweep all three races over the past four decades.
Golden Tempo (19) ridden by Jose L. Ortiz wins the 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby
Trainer Cherie DeVaux announced the news Wednesday, explaining that her barn has Golden Tempo focused on the Belmont Stakes, which will be run in her native Saratoga Springs
The two-week turnaround from the Derby to the Preakness, which used to be commonplace, is considered a nonstarter for many trainers and owners given that most elite thoroughbreds now typically go a month or more between races. It has caused endless debate in horse racing circles about the spacing of the Triple Crown in modern times.
Maryland racing officials are considering moving the Preakness back from the third Saturday in May to the fourth to increase the chances of not just the winner but other horses from the Derby being considered for the second leg of the Triple Crown.
None of the 18 who ran this year at Churchill Downs are heading to the Preakness, with Golden Tempo the only one considered.
The Preakness is taking place at Laurel Park between Baltimore and Washington DC, this spring while its longtime home, Pimlico Race Course, is rebuilt as part of a massive construction project that included demolishing the debilitating old structure.
Pimlico is set to become the site for year-round racing in Maryland beginning next year when the state takes control from 1/ST Racing, with Laurel becoming a training venue.
Golden Tempo won the Kentucky Derby as a 23-1 long shot in spectacular fashion, making a charge from the back of the pack down the stretch to the finish line a neck ahead of morning line favorite Renegade.
Golden Tempo made a late push down the stretch to come from dead last to take victory
‘I don’t even have any words right now,’ Devaux said in the moments after the victory.
‘I’m glad that I could be a representative of all women everywhere that we can do anything we set our minds to.’
Speaking again at the winner’s circle, Devaux told NBC: ‘In the summer of 2017, I was kind of at a crossroads in life and [my husband] told me that I owed it to myself to at least try. And he had the faith in me and he saw what I didn’t see and believed in me.’
The 152nd edition of the historic race was run with only 18 horses instead of the maximum 20 after The Puma and Great White were scratched from the lineup at the last minute.
