LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — For a fleeting moment on Saturday, diehard and casual race fans had hopes that Sovereignty, who had won the Kentucky Derby just moments earlier, would make his way to Baltimore in two weeks to continue a quest for the Triple Crown at the 150th Preakness.
But then, trainer Bill Mott said this: “I think we gotta talk about it. I mean, the pressure is on now to go. Had he not won, maybe you wouldn’t feel obligated to do it, but we’ll talk with the team and I think we’ll make a joint decision and we’ll try to do the right thing.”
Three days later, Mott confirmed it. Sovereignty would not run in the Preakness, guaranteeing that horse racing won’t see a Triple Crown winner for a seventh straight year.
Veteran NBC Sports racing reporter Kenny Rice says he wasn’t surprised.
“I think Bill did the right thing”, Rice said. “Bill doesn’t owe the Preakness or the Triple Crown anything. Yet again, from a horse racing standpoint, it’d be nice to have the Derby winner trying for the Triple Crown. But not to be.”
Rice has covered horse racing for more than a quarter of a century. He understands and agree with the safety concerns regarding the horses, but is also concerned about where this could be heading.
“ That is the beauty and the lure and the history of the Triple Crown; can you win these three races – different distances, different tracks - in a five-week period. That’s what makes it special and you have to have a special horse to do it. But I wonder – and Bill Mott is a Hall of Famer and well-respected – if it’s going to get to the point where suddenly people are saying ‘well, we won the Derby – if we could only win one race, it’s the Derby and we’ll think about the Preakness’ and I believe it’s hedging towards that way."
Rice suggests spacing out the Triple Crown races, running the Preakness on the first weekend in June and pushing the Belmont to July for the safety of the horses and to keep fans engaged. But he’s realistic about the chances of any of that happening anytime soon.
“You know, it comes down to one thing – money! Because Maryland Racing is tied into New York racing in terms of the gambling part of it; there’s a lot of money at stake.
“So they don’t wanna upset New York. New York is going to stand firm with what they want to do and I don’t see anything changing in the near future, that being in the next 8-10 years. It would have to be several Kentucky Derby winners bypassing the Preakness before someone raises up and says ‘maybe we should take another look’.”
