No one has more reason to cling to tradition than D. Wayne Lukas.

The 89-year-old trainer has saddled seven Preakness Stakes winners, from Codex in 1980 all the way to Seize the Grey last May. He has never been daunted by the brief, two-week break between the Kentucky Derby and the second jewel of the Triple Crown in Baltimore.

But listen to the dean — make that “Coach,” Lukas’ nom de guerre — of Preakness trainers on the subject of the Triple Crown calendar:

“Boy, now’s the time to change it. Leave the Kentucky Derby where it is. Move this one to Memorial Day, and boy, you’re going to get a lot more horses. Then you move [the Belmont Stakes] to Fourth of July. The traditionalists, they’re the same people who said the 3-point shot was going to kill basketball.”

Here we go again. When Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott decided last week not to enter Sovereignty in the 150th Preakness Stakes, he revived a debate that flares every time a Derby winner does not go on to Pimlico Race Course.

It’s an intractable standoff pitting hidebound history lovers against reformers, Maryland racing partisans against their New York counterparts.

In an era when many trainers prefer to rest their horses at least a month between starts, is the Triple Crown calendar — three races in five weeks — simply too compact for the good of the series? And, from a more provincial point of view, is Preakness, the perpetual middle child, diminished by this schedule squeeze?

“It’s probably time to stretch it out,” said NBC analyst and two-time Preakness-winning jockey Jerry Bailey. “The idea of the Triple Crown is to have the best 3-year-olds in America running against each other three times. Three different tracks, three different distances. I think tradition has been blown out of the water over the last five years for various reasons, and you don’t get the best 3-year-olds in each race now.”

The old line on Preakness was that the one thing it had over the Derby was the presence of the Derby champ. In other words, it came with a built-in narrative every year. Could the horse that won at Churchill Downs keep Triple Crown hope alive at Pimlico?

But Sovereignty became the third Derby winner to skip Preakness since 2019, and many within the sport warn it’s going to keep happening as long as the calendar remains out of step with modern training practices.

There are multiple impediments to change.

New York Racing Association officials aren’t inclined to move the Belmont Stakes from its traditional slot three weeks after Preakness, and there’s no central authority to force them to rethink. With Preakness and the Belmont on different television networks, there’s neither a common media partner to facilitate the discussion nor a corporate sponsor to revive the $5 million bonus that created incentive for horses to run all three races from 1987 until 2005.

Meanwhile, plenty of leading voices in the sport do not want the Triple Crown calendar extended, saying substantial change would rob the series of what makes it special.

“It’s demanding. It’s meant to separate the greats,” said trainer Michael McCarthy, who will saddle Journalism for Preakness two weeks after his agonizing Derby loss to Sovereignty. “I think it captivates the average observer for the five weeks.”

Maryland officials, going back to former Maryland Jockey Club president Tom Chuckas in 2014, have tried to sound the alarm on this issue, with little to show for their efforts. The next concerted push probably won’t come until 2026 or 2027, when operational control of Preakness will transition from The Stronach Group to the new nonprofit Maryland Jockey Club.

“It’s early in our process,” Maryland Jockey Club President Bill Knauf said in a text. “For 2027, we will explore all potential options.”

Will NYRA, which welcomes all the Derby horses skipping Preakness to prepare for the Belmont and has little appetite for pushing its signature event back to the July 4 weekend, be willing to join that discussion?

“NYRA is focused on hosting another successful edition of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga as construction of the new Belmont Park continues on schedule,” spokesperson Patrick McKenna said in a statement.

It takes little reading between the lines to surmise that NYRA sees no problem in need of fixing. New York officials remember the national buzz around American Pharoah’s 2015 Triple Crown and argue his clinching Belmont run wouldn’t have been nearly as seismic an event if fans had not waited 37 years for a successor to Affirmed.

Those calling for change say that’s outdated thinking.

Bailey’s NBC broadcast partner, Randy Moss, likes to say that, if the NFL or NBA were in charge of these races, they would have been spaced out years ago to create better fields with more horses in common. That would translate to more compelling television. Instead, NBC is left trying to sell a 2025 Preakness that in no way picks up the narrative begun two weeks earlier in Kentucky.

“It’s already cheapened,” Moss said of the Triple Crown series.

That will become more obvious to everyone, he said, as more Derby-winning trainers skip Preakness. There hasn’t been a Triple Crown on the line in the Belmont since Justify completed the feat in 2018. That streak could grow considerably longer if fewer and fewer horses even attempt to run all three races.

“You just hope someone at NYRA recognizes that they’re shooting themselves in the foot,” Moss said.

“It would help them,” Bailey said. “Take this year in particular. Bill Mott’s already said he would have been more likely to run in the Preakness with a month between. So then [New York] would still be alive for a Triple Crown, which now they’re not.”

Upon more careful examination, the list of Derby champs skipping Preakness does not add up to an epidemic. Not yet.

Country House won the 2019 Derby only because Maximum Security was disqualified. He developed an illness after the Derby and never raced again.

Rich Strike at 80-1 was the second-biggest long shot ever to win the first jewel of the Triple Crown. He wasn’t likely to repeat that feat at Pimlico and, in fact, never won again in six post-Derby starts.

Mandaloun doesn’t count. He wasn’t the Derby champ at the time the 2021 Preakness was run. Medina Spirit crossed the wire first at Churchill Downs and did run in Baltimore despite the medication violation that would ultimately erase his victory.

Sovereignty is a different case, a genuinely accomplished horse whose Derby win left no lingering questions about his quality. It wasn’t surprising when Mott opted against running back in two weeks. Mott, one of the most respected horsemen in the game, has never been one to rush his 3-year-olds into Triple Crown races, and he was unlikely to be swayed by public opinion.

No one seems angry at Mott, revered by his peers as a consummate horseman.

“I respect Bill for his decision. If he didn’t think he should be here, fine,” Lukas said. “I would never question another trainer, especially as good as he is.”

The bigger question is whether his decision will embolden other trainers in similar positions to skip future editions of Preakness. He’s not alone in feeling uncomfortable with the antiquated Triple Crown calendar — three pressure-packed races in five weeks.

Tradition is fine, say those calling for change, but not if it means the Preakness field has little or no connection to the Derby field. That’s no way to build drama over the course of the sport’s most popular series.

“For a long time, I’ve said I like the two weeks, that it’s not supposed to be easy,” said trainer Mark Casse, who won the 2019 Preakness with War of Will and will saddle Sandman for this year’s race. “The problem is, for our sport, what drives me crazy is the people who say, ‘Well, this is the way we’ve always done it.’ I believe the world gets smarter every day, and if you stand still, you get run over. I think if we’re going to continue losing Kentucky Derby winners, we’ve got to really seriously look at making [the gaps between the races] a month and a month.”

The Triple Crown’s history isn’t sacrosanct. The races didn’t always unfold in the same order. The Derby and Preakness twice happened on the same day. Preakness was run in New York from 1890 to 1908. The Belmont moved to Saratoga and was run at a shorter distance just last year (and will be again this year). Preakness is headed to Laurel Park in 2026.

Change is everywhere.

At the same time, leading trainers caution against altering the essential nature of the Triple Crown. They want it to remain a club open only to the sturdiest and most brilliant horses, one that adds new members only rarely. If that means fewer applicants even make the attempt, well, so be it.

“It’s a question that has more than one side to it,” said Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, who won Preakness in 2007 and 2009 and will saddle Clever Again for this year’s race. “I mean, I love how hard it is to do, which makes it so special. And then, would it be making it easier? Does it dilute it? I mean, that’s a great question, and I think that it’ll continue to be debated.”

A photo caption with this article was corrected to reflect the name of D. Wayne Lukas’ wife.