Trainer Michael McCarthy never doubted that Journalism would race at Pimlico and believes his 3-year-old colt is ready for another Triple Crown race.

1. Goal Oriented (6-1 morning-line odds): Undefeated colt gets a major class test while making his stakes debut in a Triple Crown race. He's trained by Bob Baffert, who has won the Preakness a record eight times and is an expert at winning off of two weeks of rest. His connections alone make him a contender.

Saturday's Preakness Stakes, second jewel of the Triple Crown, drew only three of the 19 Kentucky Derby starters, but the race nonetheless has plenty of interesting facets.

Why isn't the Kentucky Derby winner in the Preakness, and other questions answered about the second race of the Triple Crown.

There will be no Triple Crown winner in horse racing this year. Sovereignty, the three-year-old thoroughbred who won the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, will not race in the Preakness Stakes – the second leg of the three races that make up the Triple Crown.

Just a few days after winning the Kentucky Derby, Sovereignty was ruled out of running in the Preakness Stakes.

Sovereignty won’t attempt to reign over the Triple Crown. In what is a sign of the times and a new, modern approach to horse racing, the 2025 Kentucky Derby winner is skipping the Preakness Stakes, instead focusing on the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga next month.

Sovereignty, ridden by Junior Alvarado, left, crosses the finish line to win the 151st running of the Kentucky Derby horse race followed by Journalism, ridden by Umberto Rispoli, at Churchill Downs Saturday, May 3, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr) AP

Although Kentucky Derby (G1) hero Sovereignty is skipping the Preakness (G1) by design, Derby runner-up Journalism will advance to Saturday’s middle jewel.

The wrecking ball is coming to Pimlico Race Course, a long-awaiting demolition of the dilapidated racetrack that opened in 1870 and for decades has seen better days.