HORSE TRAINERS REFER TO THE CRIPPLE CROWN.

That's apparently not without reason.  Last Saturday, a colt that wasn't even in the starting field Friday morning won the Kentucky Derby.  His owners are holding Rich Strike out of the Preakness Stakes.

The decision for trainer Eric Reed and owner Rick Dawson came down to what was best for history versus what was best for the horse. Prior to the miracle Derby finish, Rich Strike's team had planned to compete at the Belmont and bypass the Preakness; it was only the weight of history that kept next weekend's race at Pimlico in the horse's future at all.

I'm not conversant enough with how much age variation there is in three year old thoroughbreds to wonder whether there are less developed horses in the field. The trainer and the owner must have taken that into consideration. "Rich Strike has never raced more than once in five weeks, and the Preakness would have added a race in the middle of the five weeks between the Derby and the Belmont."  Because the Triple Crown races have been three in five weeks (first and third Saturday in May, whichever Saturday in June is three weeks after the Preakness) for years, there are either a lot of trainers running risks with their horses or there's a protocol for seasoning horses so as to be able to run three high-stress races in five weeks.