Daily to Derby

Golden Tempo Out — Pointing to Belmont

It's official. DeVaux posted the statement Wednesday morning:

"After much thoughtful discussion as a team, we've decided that Golden Tempo will bypass the Preakness Stakes. We're incredibly appreciative of the excitement and support surrounding the possibility of a Triple Crown run. Golden gave us the race of a lifetime in the Kentucky Derby, and we believe the best decision for him moving forward is to give him a little more time following such a tremendous effort. His health, happiness, and long-term future will always remain our top priority. We're looking forward to pointing him toward the Belmont Stakes and are excited for what lies ahead with this very special horse."

Golden Tempo is the fourth Derby winner in seven years to skip the Preakness — following Country House (2019, never ran again), Rich Strike (2022), and Sovereignty (2025, who went on to win the Belmont). He'll target the Belmont Stakes on June 6.

PTF and JK sat down immediately after the announcement to discuss what this means — for the Preakness, for the Triple Crown, and for the sport. They don't agree on everything.

Wide-Open Preakness — Updated Oddschecker Prices

With Golden Tempo out, the books reshuffled Wednesday evening:

Crude Velocity 13/8 (slight drift — still dominant favorite)
Silent Tactic 4/1 at William Hill, 5/1 elsewhere (big move to 2nd favorite)
Taj Mahal 6/1 (drifted to 8/1 at some shops)
Ocelli 7/1-10/1
Iron Honor 8/1-12/1
Chip Honcho 8/1-14/1
Cherokee Nation 10/1-16/1
Napoleon Solo 11/1-16/1
The Hell We Did 10/1-20/1
Corona de Oro 16/1
Great White 12/1-20/1
Express Kid 10/1-20/1
Talkin 16/1-25/1
Ottinho 16/1-25/1
Pretty Boy Miah 16/1-25/1
Crupper 20/1-50/1

Silent Tactic's move to second favorite is the market story. Casse's colt was a Derby scratch with a bruised foot — if his midweek work goes well, he enters as a serious contender who missed his chance at Churchill.

On Ocelli: Beckman said Sunday (BloodHorse) he didn't see the incentive to come back, then upgraded to "maybe" Monday after seeing how well the horse was doing. The books still have him priced at 7/1-10/1.

On Ottinho: DRF reported him out of both the Peter Pan and Preakness on May 4, but the books still list him at 16/1-25/1.

Draw is Monday, May 11. Post time 6:45 PM ET on NBC. Limited to 14 starters — with 16 possibles, at least two are getting left out.

Should the Spacing Change?

PTF and JK went at it in the video.

JK: "The Triple Crown is special because it's hard to accomplish. I don't think we should change it." He thinks the last two years are circumstantial and that the real pull is Saratoga — a Grade 1 Belmont at a mile and a quarter, five weeks after the Derby, is more attractive than a Preakness on two weeks' rest.

PTF: Five of the last eight Derby winners skipped the Preakness. Moving the spacing from five weeks to seven or eight would get more stars in all three gates. "I'm not saying anything radical. God forbid some cooperation between three different racing entities."

We want to hear from you. Drop your take in the comments on the video.

Two New Videos Worth Your Time

👉 Is It Time for Fixed Odds in Horse Racing? with Marshall Gramm — ties directly to our Kalshi feature. The win pool problems we wrote about in that piece are getting a full airing here.

👉 Who Was Best in Kentucky Derby 2026? with Total Performance Data — the GPS data dive we teased in the Derby recap.

Daisy Phipps Pulito on On the Lead

Daisy Phipps Pulito — racing manager for the Phipps family, whose involvement in the sport traces back to 1926 — joins us on On the Lead this week. A century of breeding, one Saturday at Churchill Downs.

👉 Preakness Top 5 — PTF and JK

👉 Derby Recap with PTF and Mikee P.

👉 Why You Can't Bet the Derby on Kalshi (ITM Original)

👉 Can You Win the Derby From the Rail? (ITM Original)

👉 Is Todd Pletcher Actually Bad in the Derby? (ITM Original)

👉 Phipps, St. Elias Partnership Produces Derby Winner (BloodHorse)

👉 Browse all 28 Daily to Derby editions