Country House won’t run in Preakness due to illness

Country House, which was awarded the Kentucky Derby crown after Maximum Security was disqualified, won’t run at the Preakness Stakes due to an illness.

It looks like the horse racing world may have inadvertently dodged a bullet in terms of historic controversy. Country House, which was awarded the Kentucky Derby win after Maximum Security was disqualified over an interference issue, will not be running at the Preakness Stakes due to illness.

The horse is showing signs of illness and has been coughing according to trainer Bill Mott. Mott broke down the situation by saying the following:

"“Usually when something like this happens a horse misses a couple weeks of training. He’s not seriously sick right now. But he’s showing indications that something is going on.”"

One has to wonder if running on a rainy, sloppy track at Churchill Downs over the weekend contributed to Country House’s symptoms. With Country House withdrawing from the Preakness Stakes, we will not have a chance at a Triple Crown winner this season, a disappointing outcome after seeing two in the past four years with American Pharaoh in 2015 and Justify last spring.

While there will no longer be a raging debate about whether a horse could win the Triple Crown when it won a leg thanks to a DQ, the latter two stakes races have certainly lost some juice. Maximum Security has already withdrawn from the Preakness, so there will be a lack of star power at Pimlico in two weeks.

This could end up being good news for bettors, who should see more wide open fields at the Preakness and Belmont Stakes, which could lead to higher odds for the favorites and potentially more lucrative payouts. NBC surely won’t be happy, however, as ratings for both events will probably go down with either of the most notorious horses in this year’s class running at Pimlico at the bare minimum.