A Kentucky Derby Rematch at the Spa? Preakness Winner Heads to Saratoga

SARATOGA SPRINGS — When the connections of Sovereignty, the winner of this year’s Kentucky Derby, decided to forgo the Preakness Stakes in pursuit of the Belmont, it ignited a firestorm of controversy among racing fans. Has the Triple Crown become obsolete? Should schedules be adjusted to encourage more attempts at a feat so impressive that Netflix named a TV show after it?

Despite all the grumbling, fans may soon bear witness to something arguably more spectacular than a Triple Crown attempt: a final showdown between the winners of the Derby and the Preakness here in Saratoga.

On Monday, the gleaming chestnut coat of Preakness winner Journalism was led casually into a Spa City-bound horse van. His trainer, Michael McCarthy, will have until June 1 to decide whether the colt is ready and able to run the Test of Champions.

“It would be three races in five weeks but if the horse is doing as well as he’s doing now, it would be hard to offer up any excuses,” McCarthy told BloodHorse on May 18. “Now it’s two races in two weeks. He ate up last night and he seems pleased with himself. So, we’ll weigh the pros and cons.

“I think it would be great for the sport if these horses stay healthy and whether it’s for the Belmont, Travers, or Breeders’ Cup Classic, we get a rematch,” McCarthy added. “It would be great for racing. Period.”

Journalism was upset by Sovereignty at Churchill Downs in front of the largest Kentucky Derby television audience since 1989. But at the Preakness, he boldly squeezed his way through two other horses, emerging unscathed enough to rocket ahead for a spectacular first-place finish. 

“It went from the devastation of not being able to win the race, with what looked like an impossible task, to hopeful that he was going to somehow make a miracle happen,” Aron Wellman, president and founder of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, told the New York Racing Association (NYRA). “It took a superior, elite horse and jockey to be able to overcome those circumstances and make it happen.”

With Sovereignty resting comfortably in Saratoga, a rematch between the two thoroughbreds seems both inevitable and widely desired.

Journalism has visited Saratoga before (he was the third-straight Preakness champion to come out of Fasig-Tipton’s annual Saratoga Sale), but he hasn’t yet competed at the Graveyard of Champions. It may not be long before that changes.

Other horses who may run in the Belmont include Preakness second-place finisher Gosger, Kentucky Derby third-placer Baeza, Peter Pan-winner Hill Road, and Wood Memorial-victor Rodriguez.

NYRA also revealed this week that Preakness third-place finisher Sandman will likely target the Jim Dandy on July 26 at Saratoga.