For the second consecutive year, the Kentucky Derby winner will not run in the Preakness Stakes, as Golden Tempo trainer Cherie DeVaux announced Wednesday the horse will skip the second leg of the Triple Crown and compete in the Belmont Stakes next month.

“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,” DeVaux wrote in a statement posted to X.

Golden Tempo was a 23-1 long shot on Saturday but made a late charge down the stretch to edge out favorite Renegade. The victory made DeVaux the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner.

Last year, Sovereignty passed on the Preakness, and many trainers feel is too close to the Kentucky Derby — two weeks apart — and makes it difficult to keep a horse healthy for big races in the summer and fall.

The Preakness will be held May 16 at Laurel Park south of Baltimore, due to Pimlico undergoing a grandstand renovation. Pimlico is scheduled to host the 2027 Preakness.

As of Wednesday afternoon, none of the 19 horses who participated in the Kentucky Derby have committed to compete in the Preakness.

The Belmont is slated for June 6 at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., due to ongoing construction at the main Belmont Park facility on Long Island, N.Y.

–Field Level Media

Los Angeles Lakers superstar Luka Doncic broke his silence Wednesday about the hamstring strain that has kept him sidelined since early April.

He told reporters at the team hotel in Oklahoma City he doesn’t know when he can rejoin the Lakers, who lost 108-90 in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Thunder on Tuesday night.

“It’s very frustrating,” Doncic said. “I don’t think people understand how frustrating it is. All I want to do is play basketball, especially this time. It’s the best time to play basketball.

“It’s very frustrating seeing what my team is doing. I’m very proud of them. It’s been very tough to just to sit and watch them play.”

Doncic, 27, sustained the Grade 2 strain in his left hamstring five weeks ago on April 2 in Oklahoma City. He missed the last five games of the regular season and sat out the six-game first-round playoff series win against the Houston Rockets.

“The day I did the MRI on the hamstring, the doctor told me eight weeks (recovery) at the beginning,” Doncic said. “I’m doing everything I can in the process, and I think we’re on a good way. But at the beginning, he told me eight weeks.”

Doncic averaged a league-high 33.5 points with 8.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds in 64 games (all starts) in the regular season.

The six-time All-Star guard was noncommittal when asked about his potential return later in this series, with Game 3 set for Saturday in Los Angeles.

“I’m just doing everything I can,” said Doncic, who has started running but has not participated in any contact drills. “Every day, I’m doing stuff I’m supposed to do. Obviously recovery, now I’m working. … Just going day by day, and I feel better every day.”

Doncic said he has been proceeding with caution during his recovery, which included traveling to Spain to receive platelet-rich plasma therapy.

“It’s a tough one for me because I came back from injuries before too soon, and it wasn’t the best result,” Doncic said. “You have to be very careful, and I’m doing everything to come back. All the recovery, the (hyperbaric) chamber, cold tub, everything I can to come back, but it’s obviously very different than other injuries I had.”

–Field Level Media

Andrew Vaughn hit a three-run homer for the Milwaukee Brewers, who had five pitchers team up to limit the host St. Louis Cardinals to just four hits in a 6-2 victory on Wednesday afternoon.

Vaughn, reinstated from the injured list Monday after breaking the hamate bone in his left hand on Opening Day, capped a four-run first with his first homer of the season, which he hit off Andre Pallante 403 feet to left-center field.

Pallante (3-3) got the first two Brewers batters out to start the game, but he allowed Brice Turang to reach on a single and hit William Contreras. Jake Bauers singled home Turang before he and Contreras scored on Vaughn’s blast, which came on a full count.

Milwaukee scored all its runs with two outs. Joey Ortiz scored on a Pallante wild pitch in the fifth, and Jackson Chourio’s ninth-inning double to right off Matt Svanson scored Sal Frelick.

The Brewers pounded out 11 hits to split the two-game series with the Cardinals. Bauers went 2-for-3 with a walk. Vaughn added a single as part of a 2-for-4 day, while Chourio and Frelick both enjoyed 2-for-5 games.

Brandon Sproat threw four shutout innings and allowed just a hit while striking out five. However, three walks and a hit batsman kept the 25-year-old right-hander, who entered Wednesday having allowed 20 earned runs in 26 2/3 innings, from being able to claim his first career major league victory.

Aaron Ashby (6-0) allowed just a walk in two innings of relief to get the victory. DL Hall pitched a perfect fifth inning with a strikeout for the Brewers.

Pallante went six innings, gave up eight hits and two walks and struck out three.

The Cardinals’ only hit through seven innings was Ivan Herrera’s first-inning double. Alec Burleson put the hosts on the board with an eighth-inning single off Trevor Megill that scored Victor Scott II to end the shutout.

Cardinals left fielder Nathan Church exited after three innings due to a left leg contusion he suffered when Sproat hit him in the second.

–Field Level Media