“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,” said Mike Rogers. Unfortunately, for the executive vice president of 1/ST Racing, the landmark Preakness Stakes will not see this year’s Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty race on May 17.

Yes! This also means that for yet another year, the horse racing fans won’t get a Triple Crown winner. The only difference is that now they don’t even have to wait for the Preakness to know that fact. In fact, the reason Mike Rogers made that statement was because Bill Mott gave him a call. The Kentucky Derby-winning trainer informed Rogers out of courtesy, so the Preakness may find another horse to take the field. And how did the vice president react?

Well, Rogers didn’t mind at all. “We extend our congratulations to the connections of Sovereignty and respect their decision,” the Preakness Stakes operator said in the official statement. On the flip side, the fan base didn’t accept this news so gracefully. Sovereignty bowing out killed the excitement of the Triple Crown series for many racing fans. “That’s a bit disappointing,” commented one fan.

Thankfully, the fan also considered why Sovereignty’s owners, Godolphin and Bill Mott, made such a decision. “I think it’s something that horse racing needs to look at. The breaks are too short,” the fan added in his comment. Many others also thought the short two-week break between the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes was to blame. What’s more? The fans weren’t the only ones.

In light of the record-breaking 21.8 million viewers who tuned in to the Kentucky Derby on NBC, Mike Repole laid out a new blueprint. The prominent horse owner who runs the Repole Stables harped on multiple tweaks and extended breaks was one of them. “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 of every trainer and owner to make a mistake and run a horse back too soon,” said Repole, highlighting the short gap between the two races. A section of fans shared a different perspective.

Not everyone agreed with Sovereignty skipping Pimlico

Many fans expressed their support for Bill Mott’s decision to give his horse some rest. While the Kentucky Derby winner won’t race in the 150th edition of the Preakness, he plans to race at Belmont. “Bill informed us they would point toward the Belmont Stakes,” confirmed Mike Rogers. Unfortunately, a section of racing fans were not happy and didn’t hesitate to express it either.

“Wanted to see a triple crown,” commented one fan. Meanwhile, another was far harsher in their criticism. “If you aren’t going to try for the crown, then don’t run in the derby,” the netizen commented about Sovereignty pulling out of the Preakness. And it’s not surprising to see why fans would have such a reaction. The last time they got a Triple Crown winner was in 2018.

In 2018, Justify became only the 13th horse to win the coveted Triple Crown. Before Justify came American Pharaoh, who won the Triple Crown in 2015. Besides winning the title, the other thing the champions had in common was their trainer, Bob Baffert. The legendary trainer became the first in 37 years to win the title in 2015, and the fans don’t want to wait another three decades for the next.

Unfortunately, Sovereignty is now the third horse after Mandaloun (2021) and Rich Strike (2022) to skip the Preakness after winning in Kentucky. Another section of fans didn’t agree with those pushing back against Mott and his team’s decision. “Clearly no one cares about the health of the horse based on these comments,” a fan wrote on X.

“Bill Mott’s a Hall of Famer. He knows what he’s doing, and he wants to protect Sovereignty so he can have a great long career,” the racing enthusiast added. Another fan agreed as well. “Good for Sovereignty! Happy to hear he’ll be resting up,” commented the X-user. After all, Mott did report that Sovereignty had a minor injury in his front pastern—one that he suspects was sustained when the Kentucky Derby champion bumped with Chunk of Gold while coming out of the starting gates on Saturday. In fact, Mott had expressed his doubts regarding participation in the Preakness as early as Sunday.

Unfortunately, that means fans who’ve been waiting for a rematch between Journalism and Sovereignty will have to wait longer. While the Kentucky Derby runner-up’s trainer, Michael McCarthy, is yet to decide about the Preakness, at least a section of fans would’ve liked to see the rivals race again. After all, Journalism jockey Umberto Rispoli’s response did hype things up after the Kentucky Derby.

“I would fight him on the better ground,” Rispoli said about Junior Alvarado (Sovereignty’s jockey), citing how Journalism had not raced in the mud before. “So I would say, let’s say then I lost the battle, not the war,” added Rispoli. Yet, the war is on hold, at least until the Belmont Stakes. So what’s your opinion on the whole situation?