Garbage Time Sports

Somewhere along the way, the Triple Crown stopped being a gauntlet of greatness and became a “choose-your-own-adventure” porn. And like all choose-your-own-adventures, this one ended with us flipping back and asking ourselves “what if?”

Listen, I’m all for sovereignty—give the horses union reps and a 401(k) if it keeps them healthy—but let’s call it what it is: the decision not to run in the Preakness ruined the show. The Triple Crown means three races. Not two. Not one and a half. Not “we’re seeing how he’s feeling after brunch.” If you skip the Preakness, you’re not chasing history, you’re just watching it from the clubhouse.

This year, we had real juice. The Derby winner Sovereignty looked sharp, the buzz was there, and the Preakness was setting up for some good, clean drama. But instead? We got a no-show that left the racing world trying to pretend it was fine, sipping mint juleps and saying things like, “This is still exciting,” while knowing it wasn’t. It’s like planning a boxing fight trilogy and finding out the winner of the first isn’t fighting in the second. What are we doing here?

The frustrating part? This isn’t new. There’s a trend now—a soft one—of skipping one of the legs, especially the Preakness. The reasoning? “We’re prioritizing the horse’s long-term career.” Okay, but the Triple Crown isn’t a five-year plan. It's a three-race sprint through history, grit, and glory. You either saddle up and go for immortality or you tip your cap and bow out. But don’t ask us to pretend we’re still watching a Crown chase when the centerpiece is missing.

I get it… there's a real strategy behind skipping. Horses are fragile. Breeding careers are lucrative. Owners and trainers want control over the narrative. But fans want a wild, unpredictable, gut-wrenching story. And the best ones require risk. The Crown was built on horses going all-out, not opting out. The magic of American Pharoah and Justify wasn’t just in the wins—it was in the three-race push, the wear, the weather, the weirdness of Baltimore’s tight turns and Belmont’s long, lonely stretch. We can’t keep calling it the most prestigious accomplishment in racing if half the contenders are skipping chapters. It’s like training for a marathon and stopping at mile 17 because your pacing looked good on paper.

So yes, maybe skipping the Preakness was the “right call” for Sovereignty. Maybe the spreadsheets say so. But for the sport? For the fans? It gutted the moment. We had a chance for 3 epic showdowns between Sovereignty and Journalism. We had a chance for a real Belmont brawl with the crown on the line for Sovereignty.

At the end of the day, greatness in sports isn’t about comfort. It’s about pushing limits, taking risks, and chasing history, even when it hurts. And if the Triple Crown loses that—if it becomes a crown of convenience instead of conquest—we’ll all be left standing at the rail, wondering what could’ve been.

-Rust