BALTIMORE, May 8 (UPI) -- Kentucky Derby runner-up Empire Maker, the prerace favorite in the first jewel of the Triple Crown, will skip the Preakness on May 17.
"He's not running," trainer Bobby Frankel said.
Empire Maker was the overwhelming favorite heading into Derby week, but he favored his right front foot following a Tuesday jog and finished second to Funny Cide, the first gelding in 74 years to win the "Run for the Roses."
Frankel will point the horse toward the Belmont Stakes in New York on June 7. The decision ended a week of waffling by Frankel and the colt's owner, Juddmonte Farms, on whether to enter the horse.
Frankel said he would decide by Monday on whether to run Peace Rules or Midas Eyes in the Preakness at Pimlico Race Course. The horses have the same owner, Edmund Gann, so Frankel will run only one of them, depending on, "who is training better."
Peace Rules was third in the Kentucky Derby and Midas Eyes won the Derby Trial on April 26.
Without Empire Maker, the Preakness field currently stands at six, which would be the smallest since Spectacular Bid won in a five-horse field in 1979.
Besides Funny Cide and either Peace Rules or Midas Eyes, the other Preakness starters are Scrinshaw, Indian Express, Senor Swinger and Midway Road.
Indian Express and Senor Swinger are trained by Bob Baffert, who has saddled four of the last six Preakness winners.
Ten of the last 11 Preakness Stakes have produced double-digit fields.
