Once upon a time, the Preakness Stakes (G1) used to be an encore in Baltimore.
A collection of top finishers in the Kentucky Derby (G1) would move on to Pimlico Race Course to continue old or new rivalries in the Preakness.
But not anymore.
These days, as soon as the Kentucky Derby is over, the connections of the horses that enlivened the Run for the Roses start acting like members of a Billy Joel cover band belting out "New York State of Mind."
On June 6, for a second straight year, a Kentucky Derby winner who appears to have come out of the 1 1/4-mile opening leg of the Triple Crown in good shape, will return in the $2 million Belmont Stakes (G1) after skipping the Preakness and passing up a chance to vie for the immortality of becoming the 14th Triple Crown winner.
At least last year, while Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty passed up the Preakness, Run for the Roses runner-up Journalism ran in the second leg of the Triple Crown and registered an astonishing, trouble-filled victory to fuel even more interest in a Sovereignty-Journalism rematch in the final jewel.
This year, the rematch from the Kentucky Derby that the sport needs and wants will take place Saturday at Saratoga Race Course when the 1-2 finishers on the first Saturday in May, the victorious Golden Tempo and Renegade, as well as the fourth-place finisher Chief Wallabee will clash on the first Saturday in June, all with five weeks' rest.
In an additional sign of the times, none of the 14 starters in the Preakness are among Saturday's field of nine, marking the first time that has happened since 1917 (with the exception of 2020 when the pandemic changed the Triple Crown schedule).
The times they have a changed.
"Two weeks is a tough turnaround," said Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, who trains Arkansas Derby (G1) winner Renegade (2-1 morning-line favorite for owners Mike Repole and Robert and Lawana Low, who bred the son of Into Mischief . "With some of these horses, and Renegade was one of them, after the Derby it took about two weeks to get their energy level back to where you want it. Now it's five weeks and a home game for him and that should help."
Five weeks later, some lingering questions about the Kentucky Derby should be resolved in the third and final Belmont at the Spa. Especially since what happened to Golden Tempo and Renegade can be described as a tale of two trips.
Though Phipps Stable and St. Elias Stable's homebred Curlin colt Golden Tempo caught Renegade in the final strides to prevail by a neck, he had a wide, but relatively smooth trip under Jose Ortiz in rallying into fast fractions from last in the field of 18.
"I applauded Jose," Pletcher said. "He executed his game plan the way he envisioned it. He wanted to break a little slow, move over to the rail, save ground and target (Irad Ortiz Jr.) and Renegade as the ones to follow and he was able to do that."
Meanwhile, it seemed as if Renegade lost all chance at the start when he broke from the rail in the Run for the Roses. He was bumped hard and nearly sent into the rail and was shuffled back to 15th. Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., Jose's brother, worked out a great trip after that. He seemed poised to win in midstretch with a strong late rally but could not fend off Golden Tempo's surge.
Did the early trouble cost Renegade the race? Perhaps, though it made watching the race an exasperating experience for Pletcher.
"I was a little surprised he was caught," Pletcher said. "At the eighth pole I thought he was going to win. I think he tried to fight back but he couldn't quite get back up there. With the start you feel it's going to be impossible to win and then at the eighth pole, thinking you might win, makes it a tougher pill to swallow."
Michael and Katherine Ball's Chief Wallabee also had some trouble while finishing fourth in the Kentucky Derby. The 3-1 second choice in the Belmont after also passing on the Preakness, he was bumped in the stretch and forced in while losing by 3 lengths.
Training at Churchill Downs
"Seeing him in (an 18-horse field) in the Derby and run so well, it gives you confidence. He feels good. He's sharp. He's more alert now," said Hall of Famer Bill Mott, who trains the homebred son of Constitution . "The trouble in the Derby cost him something. Did that cost him third or a closer fourth? There's no way for me to answer that. But it did bother him. That late in the race, you are taking their momentum away. But he was courageous enough to restart. He picked himself up and dug in. He showed some courage to reengage."
The Belmont field will be half the size of the Kentucky Derby with nine entrants and the pace figures to be slower in the identical mile-and-a-quarter Belmont than the :22.68 and :46.44 at Churchill Downs.
How will that affect the closers? Cherie DeVaux, who trains third choice Golden Tempo (9-2), doesn't want to think about it.
"I am going to say one thing and it's the only time I am going to say it. I only worry about the things I can control and nothing else. It's a wasted use of emotions to worry about the pace. Jose is going to be on him, and it's going to be what's it's going to be on race day," she said.
Pletcher said Renegade should be closer to the pace, unless there's another mishap at the start.
"You never know what everyone's tactics are. Sometimes in these races they appear paceless and sometimes guys get a little aggressive. You never know, but on paper it appears it doesn't look to be the same pace as the Derby," the four-time Belmont winner, all with horses having five weeks' rest, said. "I think Irad will have him closer. He doesn't need to be that far back. He can be more prominent."
One horse who figures to be one or near the lead is Repole's Powershift (12-1), who is coming off a maiden win on Derby Day at Churchill Downs after finishing sixth in the Tampa Bay Derby (G3).
"It's an ambitious placing but he has natural speed which could be an advantage with this pace," Pletcher said about the son of Constitution. "But I think he deserves a chance on his own merits. If he gets the right trip, I think he's live."
Trainer Chad Brown will send out three starters in a bid to win his first Belmont in the final stay at his hometown track.
Klaravich Stables' Emerging Market (6-1) seems the best of the trio. A son of Candy Ride who beat Golden Tempo while winning the Louisiana Derby (G2), he lost a shoe and chased the fast pace when 10th in the Kentucky Derby and could rebound with a better try here.
Klaravich Stables' Growth Equity (12-1) won the Peter Pan Stakes (G3) last time out and the son of Nyquist has been improving with more distance. Three Chimneys Farm's Ottinho (20-1) is a Quality Road half brother to 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner and is grade 1-placed. But that black type came when he was second by 11 lengths in the Blue Grass Stakes (G1) to Further Ado, who was 11th as the favorite in the Kentucky Derby.
Trainer Brad Cox, who won the 2021 Belmont Stakes with Essential Quality off five weeks' rest, will try the same tactic with Wathnan Racing's Commandment, who was seventh in the Run for the Roses after winning the Florida Derby (G1).
He's the 6-1 co-fourth choice.
"I do think horse racing is made up of 'what have you done lately.' I think if you look at a lot of the polls with who's on top in the 3-year-old division and not only that, but just the older horse division or the national rankings, I think a lot of it comes down to what you did in your last race," Cox said. "And obviously, that was not the performance we were looking for in the Derby, but I thought it was a good run, and I think he's a little bit forgotten. And I do think if you zero in on him and watch his race in the Derby, I thought he actually ran pretty well, just obviously wasn't the result we were looking for."
Rounding out the field is Glenn Sorgenstein WC Racing, and Run Fast Racing's Vitruvian Man (30-1), a son of Vino Rosso , who was a distant third in the Santa Anita Derby (G1) for trainer Doug O'Neill.
Saratoga Race Course, Saturday, June 6, 2026, Race 13Entries: Belmont S. Presented by NYRA Bets (G1)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Vitruvian Man (KY) Antonio Fresu 126 Doug F. O'Neill 30/1 2 2Powershift (KY) Luis Saez 126 Todd A. Pletcher 12/1 3 3Chief Wallabee (KY) Junior Alvarado 126 William I. Mott 3/1 4 4Renegade (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 126 Todd A. Pletcher 2/1 5 5Ottinho (KY) Dylan Davis 126 Chad C. Brown 20/1 6 6Growth Equity (KY) Manuel Franco 126 Chad C. Brown 12/1 7 7Commandment (KY) John R. Velazquez 126 Brad H. Cox 6/1 8 8Emerging Market (KY) Flavien Prat 126 Chad C. Brown 6/1 9 9Golden Tempo (KY) Jose L. Ortiz 126 Cherie DeVaux 9/2
