Cherie DeVaux Skips Preakness with Golden Tempo, Kentucky Derby Winner 2026

Golden Tempo, the kentucky derby winner 2026, is skipping the Preakness Stakes two weeks after taking the Derby at Churchill Downs. Cherie DeVaux is sending the colt toward rest instead of the second leg of horse racing's Triple Crown, a move that leaves the Belmont Stakes next month as the more likely target.

Golden Tempo and Cherie DeVaux

Two weeks ago, Golden Tempo surged from last to first at Churchill Downs to win the Kentucky Derby. That run made DeVaux the first woman ever to condition a Derby champion, and it put the horse in position to chase the next two legs of the Triple Crown.

Instead, the Preakness will go on without the Derby winner for the second year in a row. It is also the third time in five years that the trainer of the Derby winner has chosen to pass on Baltimore and point the horse toward recovery.

Preakness Stakes Under Pressure

The Preakness has long been the race that tells casual viewers whether the Derby winner can stay on course for a Triple Crown bid. That role has weakened as top trainers decide two weeks is too little time for a horse to recover between races.

The numbers behind that shift are sharp. In the previous three decades, only two Derby winners were held out of the Preakness, and both of those horses had left Louisville hobbled and never raced again. This latest skip comes without that same injury explanation, which makes the choice more about management than survival.

Belmont Stakes Next Month

Golden Tempo's path now moves away from the Preakness and toward next month’s Belmont Stakes. For anyone following the Triple Crown chase, the immediate story is that the Derby winner will not try to extend the run in the series’ second leg, and the field in Baltimore loses the one horse that would have carried the biggest draw.