Topline

Rich Strike—the longshot horse who pulled off a historic upset win at Saturday’s Kentucky Derby—won’t race at next week’s Preakness Stakes, his owner Rick Dawson announced Thursday, stopping the colt’s bid at becoming the 14th Triple Crown winner dead in its tracks .

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Rich Strike won’t run the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore next Saturday, Dawson said in a statementciting a desire to keep the horse healthy and committing Rich Strike to racing the Belmont Stakes in June, the last race of the Triple Crown.

Dawson said his team always planned to give Rich Strike proper “recovery time” before the Belmont, and the horse’s surprise qualification and victory at the Derby led to the decision to pull the colt from the Preakness.

Rich Strike, whose Derby win at 80-to-1 odds made him the second-largest underdog to win in the race’s history, is the first Derby winner to skip the Preakness since 2019 and second since 1996.