Golden Tempo’s 2026 Kentucky Derby victory shocked the racing world. As the horse surged across the finish line, Cherie DeVaux nearly ‘blacked out’ because even she didn’t believe it. A 23-1 long-shot had just made her the first female trainer to ever win the Derby. However, less than a week later, DeVaux is now back in the news for pulling out of a $2 million race. This followed a shocking trend, and one ex-NBC star didn’t hold back on it.

Cherie DeVaux recently announced Golden Tempo’s withdrawal from the Preakness Stakes. Amid this, former NBC star Chuck Todd broke his silence. While Todd wasn’t talking about DeVaux’s decision to pull Golden Tempo out, he was talking about the larger Triple Crown race schedule.

“Sigh,” Todd wrote on X. “Please, Triple Crown people, create a schedule that encourages participation in all three races. This stubbornness about the dates of these races is self-defeating. Most major sporting events have allowed their schedules to change to accommodate changes in the sport.”

Historically, the three Triple Crown races have always run in May and early June. The Kentucky Derby runs on the first Saturday in May, followed by the Preakness on the third Saturday and then the Belmont, three weeks later. As a result, in 2026, the Preakness is going to be held on May 16, followed by the Belmont on June 6.

This leaves just a couple of weeks in between for the horses to train and recover. Especially given that horses that have trained for the Derby will usually require 2-4 weeks to recover.

However, since 2018, only three horses have competed in the Preakness after winning the Derby. Also, this marks the eighth year that the Preakness Stakes gates open without a chance of a Triple Crown winner. Many Derby winners like Sovereignty (2025) and Rich Strike (2022) have previously skipped to concentrate on the Belmont Stakes.

Interestingly, some horse trainers no longer believe that running a race with a two-week break is viable. Trainer Brad Cox, winner of the 2021 Derby, said in a press conference before the Kentucky Derby: “The pressure it puts on the horses in regards to getting in the Derby, and then to ask them to run a mile and a quarter … then to turn around and think you’ve got to run a mile and three-sixteenths, 14 days later; it’s a lot.”

The last horse to run and win the Triple Crown was Justify in 2018. He became only the 13th horse in history to win the series, but six weeks after he won the Belmont, the colt retired. The same thing applied to American Pharaoh, who won the Triple Crown in 2015. He did continue racing after Belmont, but by the end of the 2015 season, he retired.

Before that, no horse had ever won the Triple Crown series for 37 years. It’s why many trainers and even owners have agreed that the schedule is no longer feasible.

Mike Repole and Doug O’Neill reflect on Triple Crown scheduling

With the 152nd run of the Kentucky Derby now over, the focus has shifted to the Preakness Stakes. Unfortunately, the 151st Preakness has lost its shine since Cherie DeVaux opted to skip the race. After all, the series’ schedule has long been called into question, especially in modern times.

Trainer Doug O’Neill said,“Just the way the sport has evolved, to try to squeeze three tough races into five weeks is just not realistic.”

Even many owners are unhappy with the situation. Prime among them is Mike Repole, who is Renegade’s owner, as he believes the Belmont Stakes should be moved up by a week. While his suggestion has been just that, the billionaire had more thoughts on the race and the schedule.

“The Preakness being run two weeks after the Kentucky Derby, in this new day and age in racing, shows the lack of vision and leadership needed to evolve this sport,” Repole said, as per the Athletic.

“If you want these horses to run for a longer period of time, and even as (4-year-olds), you must take the pressure off every trainer and owner to make a mistake and run a horse back too soon.”

Golden Tempo may not be lining up at Laurel Park on May 16th, but his absence has sparked a conversation. The schedule hasn’t changed in decades, but only time will tell whether it affects the future of the Triple Crown or not.