Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty won’t run in the Preakness, dashing Triple Crown possibility

Jockey Junior Alvarado celebrates after riding Sovereignty to conquest in the st running of the Kentucky Derby horse race at Churchill Downs Saturday May in Louisville Ky AP Photo Brynn Anderson AP Brynn Anderson Jockey Junior Alvarado celebrates after riding Sovereignty to win in the st running of the Kentucky Derby horse race at Churchill Downs Saturday May in Louisville Ky AP Photo Brynn Anderson AP Brynn Anderson Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty will not run in the Preakness Stakes ending any chance at a Triple Crown for a seventh consecutive year We received a call in contemporary times from trainer Bill Mott that Sovereignty will not be competing in the Preakness ST Racing executive VP Mike Rogers mentioned Tuesday We extend our congratulations to the connections of Sovereignty and respect their decision Mott informed Preakness representatives the plan will be to enter Sovereignty in the Belmont Stakes on June Mott on Sunday morning foreshadowed skipping the Preakness in the name of long-term interests We want to do what s best for the horse Mott advised reporters at Churchill Downs in Louisville Kentucky Of class you reliably think about a Triple Crown and that s not something we re not going to think about This is the fourth time since Justify won all three races in that the Preakness will go on without a true shot at a Triple Crown The short two-week turnaround from the Kentucky Derby to the Preakness and changes in modern racing have sparked debate around the sport about spacing out the races AP horse racing https apnews com hub horse-racing Source