LEXINGTON, Ky. — Horse racing will not have a Triple Crown winner this year.

Mike Rogers, executive vice president at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, announced Tuesday that Pimlico had received a call from trainer Bill Mott saying that Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty will not run in the May 17 Preakness Stakes.

Instead, Sovereignty will be prepped for the Belmont Stakes, to be run Saturday, June 7 at Saratoga. Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., is still undergoing renovations.

“We received a call today from trainer Bill Mott that Sovereignty will not be competing in the Preakness,” Rogers said in a press release. “Bill informed us they would point toward the Belmont Stakes.

“We extend our congratulations to the connections of Sovereignty and respect their decision. We continue to see the excitement building toward the milestone celebration of the 150th Preakness Stakes, and we look forward to an incredible weekend of world-class racing and entertainment.”

Sovereignty is the first Kentucky Derby winner to skip the Preakness, the second leg of the Triple Crown, since Rich Strike in 2022.

The morning after Sovereignty’s one-and-a-half length win over Journalism in the Kentucky Derby, Mott indicated that he found the Belmont Stakes’ distance of a mile-and-a-quarter at Saratoga “very interesting to me.” When run at Belmont Park, the Belmont Stakes distance is a mile-and-a-half.

“I’d like to see (Sovereignty) at his best going into the Belmont,” said Mott, who bases his operations in New York.

Justify was the last Triple Crown winner, completing the rare feat for trainer Bob Baffert in 2018. American Pharoah became the first colt to capture the Triple Crown in 37 years when he won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes for Baffert in 2015.

After winning the Kentucky Derby last year for trainer Kenny McPeek, Mystik Dan finished second to Seize the Grey in the Preakness. That win was the 16th Triple Crown victory for trainer D. Wayne Lukas.

The 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage finished third in the Preakness that year. Natural Treasure, trained by Baffert, won the race with Blazing Sevens finishing second.

Justify is the last Kentucky Derby winner to also win the Preakness.

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