Why horses are skipping competing for the triple crown

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:00]Why are Kentucky Derby winners skipping the PNness stakes and their shot at a triple crown? This year's Derby winner, Golden Tempo, is officially sitting out the PNness. And if you feel like that's happening more and more, you're right.

[00:00:13]The stats are wild. From 1997 to 2018, every Derby winner ran in the PNness.

[00:00:20]Since then, not counting the co year, only two have done it. Has the magic worn off since American Pharaoh and Justify broke the long triple crown drought? Maybe. But the real reasons come down to risk and money. First, the timeline is brutal for the horses. The Derby Pnness and Belmont are all just five weeks apart from each other. On top of that, a lot of experts say that thoroughbreds are not bred the way they used to be. They are designed more for speed than durability, which makes that two-week gap even more difficult. Plus, there's more stringent oversight by the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Authority, encouraging everyone to just be a bit more cautious. Now, we come to the money part. Breeding rights for a Kentucky Derby winner can run up in the tens of millions of dollars, so it's not worth risking an injury for a race that pays way less. This isn't really talked about much, but there's also not a Triple Crown bonus anymore. So, from 1987 to 2005, there was a $5 million bonus if your horse won the Triple Crown. Not anymore. And this year, we have an additional hurdle, track changes. So, the Pnness and Belmont Stakes are being raced at different tracks than they usually are because of construction. So, that adds in some uncertainty. Also, because of that, the Belmont Stakes is a quarter mile shorter than it usually is, which has some people saying that if you had run for the Triple Crown this year, there would always be an asterisk on that win. So, what's the solution? Well, a lot of people have opinions, but because horse racing doesn't have a commissioner or centralized leadership, change is slow or non-existent at this level. There's broadcast partners, track ownership that all have different and competing interests and they're all kind of trying to protect their own turf. So, what do you think? Is it time to shift the schedule? Is it worth the risk to trainers right now to try for a triple crown?