Michael Clevenger and Christopher Granger/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK
In the sport of competitive horse racing, there is no more difficult or prestigious feat than winning the Triple Crown. The accomplishment includes winning a trio of events to include the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes.
The Derby is the first leg in early May, followed by the Preakness two weeks later. Should a horse emerge victorious in both, history is on the table at the Belmont in June.
More than 150 editions of each race have been run. Only 13 horses have won all three in the same year.
To earn the title of Triple Crown winner, a horse must run in all three events, obviously. Not everyone that wins the first leg sticks around for the second race.
Kentucky Derby winners that skipped the Preakness.
In all, there are 14 Kentucky Derby winners that did not race in the Preakness Stakes. Six of those absences were due to reasons beyond their control.
Lawrin (1938) and Count Turf (1951) were ineligible. Hill Gail (1952), Swaps (1955), and Grindstone (1996) suffered injury while Country House (2019) was removed for illness.
Eight others, however, chose either rest or other opportunities over a shot at the Triple Crown. They are listed below.
Determine (1954)
Determine is the first Kentucky Derby winner to pull out of the Preakness for reasons outside of injury or illness. It did so after winning the 80th ‘Run for the Roses’ in 1954.
Determine had run nine times by the time the Preakness rolled around. His trainer, Willie Molter, kept him off the track as to not over-race him. The horse wouldn’t race in the Belmont, either.
Tomy Lee (1959)
Five years after Determine pulled out of the Preakness Stakes, 1959 Kentucky Derby winner Tomy Lee did the same. That result was made official following a 17-minute deliberation involving an alleged foul from the second-place finisher.
After securing the first leg, Tomy Lee gave up its Triple Crown pursuit. Trainer Frank Childs didn’t like to run the horse in events close together.
Tomy Lee would run in the Belmont Stakes but was beaten soundly by Sword Dancer, the runner-up in both the Derby and Preakness that season.
Gato Del Sol (1982)
It would be another two decades before a Kentucky Derby winner skipped the Preakness. That came in 1982 with Gato Del Sol.
The horse had been winless before lining up at Churchill Downs. It then won as a 21-1 longshot.
After celebrating, handlers opted to skip the shorter race at Pimlico to preserve health and focus on the Belmont. Gato Del Sol would finish second/ in New York.
Spend A Buck (1985)
Spend A Buck pulled out of the Preakness Stakes three years after Gato Del Sol, but in this case, rest was not the reason cited for the absence.
The horse won the Kentucky Derby with the fourth-fastest time in event history. Rather than pursue a Triple Crown, owner Dennis Diaz opted to focus on another race that offered a higher reward.
Earlier in the year, Spend A Buck won two preliminary races at the Garden State Park Racetrack. The track owner offered a $2 million payout for the horse that won those events, the Kentucky Derby, and the Jersey Derby.
Diaz would end up securing that bonus with another win, justifying his decision to skip both the Preakness and Belmont.
Mandaloun (2021)
Another 35 years would pass before a Kentucky Derby winner pulled out of the Preakness. Mandaloun was named the winner of the 147th ‘Run for the Roses’ as the result of a doping scandal.
The horse finished second at Churchill Downs behind Medina Spirit. A doping investigation was launched, which resulted in Medina Spirit being stripped of the win.
Mandaloun was awarded first place. Trainer Brad Cox opted to skip both the Preakness and the Belmont.
Rich Strike (2022)
Rich Strike had the second-longest odds of any Kentucky Derby winner in the event’s history at 80-1. It emerged victorious with a surprise victory at Churchill Downs in 2022.
Before landing that first-place finish, owner Richard Dawson intended to skip the Preakness. He admitted to being tempted by the Triple Crown opportunity but ultimately chose to stick to the original plan.
Rich Strike later raced in the Belmont where it finished sixth.
Sovereignty (2025)
Sovereignty is the only horse on this list to win two of the three Triple Crown legs. In the 2025 season, it kicked off a potential Triple Crown run at the Kentucky Derby.
The horse won at Churchill Downs as a 5-1 frontrunner. It then skipped the Preakness to focus on the Belmont Stakes, which it won a month later.
In doing so, Sovereignty became the first horse since Triple Crown winner Justify in 2018 to win at least two of the three legs.
Golden Tempo (2026)
The 152nd edition of the Kentucky Derby was won by 25-1 longshot Golden Tempo. The horse did so with an incredible come-from-behind effort, going from the back of the pack to the top of the field on the home stretch.
It will not race in the Preakness Stakes. Trainer Cherie DeVaux revealed that she intends to focus on “health and long-term future.”
The plan is to return for the Belmont Stakes and attempt to pull out another victory.
Preakness announcement pic.twitter.com/8JQu7VZlRC
— Cherie DeVaux (@reredevaux) May 6, 2026