The three horses that thundered down the stretch at Churchill Downs on Saturday and provided a thrilling photo finish to the 150th Kentucky Derby won’t stage a rematch in two weeks at the 2024 Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the Triple Crown. Two horses are definitely out of the race, and the winner needs to keep eating.

Mystik Dan, the 18-1 winner by a nose over Sierra Leone and Forever Young, is being closely monitored by trainer Kenny McPeek to see if the 3-year-old is sufficiently recovering from the grueling $5 million run for the roses. After initially being pessimistic Mystik Dan would be ready for Pimlico, Mr. McPeek sounded more optimistic on Monday.

Speaking to reporters at Churchill Downs, Mr. McPeek said Mystik Dan ate his full meal Sunday after eating only a portion following the race on Saturday. “Ate up last night, which is a really good sign,” Mr. McPeek said. “I’m big on that. I always believe the faster they eat, the faster they run. You’ve got to keep them in the feed tub. They need that energy.”

Mr. McPeek said a final decision on pursuing a Triple Crown may not be made before next Monday, when entries and posts are drawn for the May 18 race at Baltimore. 

“I’m encouraged,” he said, adding, “We probably won’t decide until the morning of entries. But the horse is doing fine and seems to be bright and happy.”

Mr. McPeek said on Sunday that Mystik Dan traditionally has not performed well following short breaks. After his maiden win in November, the horse finished fifth two weeks later in a Thanksgiving allowance race at Churchill Downs.

“We’re not committed to the Preakness,” Mr. McPeek said. “I ran him back once in two weeks and it completely backfired on me.”

Mr. McPeek, who won his first Derby and the Kentucky Oaks with Thorpedo Anna, became the first trainer to win both races in the same year since Ben Jones in 1952. Jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. was aboard both winners.

While the trainer celebrated, Mr. McPeek disclosed Mystik Dan left three-quarters of his feed after the race and wouldn’t race in the Preakness if that continues. “It’ll be one of those where we’ll take it up to the last minute,” Mr. McPeek said Sunday. “We’ll let him tell us. If he’s not in the feed tub, he won’t run.”

The Kentucky Derby was a grueling race, with the top three horses giving everything they had to a head-bobbing photo finish that did not become official until after several minutes. Sierra Leone will skip the Preakness. The Japanese-bred Forever Young, the 6-1 third choice, is returning to Japan and will not compete in the Preakness.

“He’s not going to the Preakness,” Sierra Leone’s trainer, Chad Brown, said at Churchill Downs. “I’m going to take him to Saratoga and train up there for the Belmont.”

Mr. Brown said his horse was “a little more tired than normal” after Saturday’s epic race. “I think giving him the five weeks before the Belmont is definitely the right thing to do,” he said.

 Mr. Brown added that he was proud of his horse’s performance, considering the ground he had to make up. “In my mind, he ran the best race, no disrespect to the winner,” he said. “It’s a hard race to win. Everything has to go right.”

Losing two of the top three finishers at the Derby, if not all three, is a gut punch for the Preakness, which hoped to capitalize on the momentum created at Churchill Downs. The race drew an estimated 16.7 million viewers, the biggest audience since 1989. The peak audience for the Derby on NBC was of 20.1 million.

A rematch would have been ideal, but losing Mystik Dan would eliminate the opportunity to win the coveted Triple Crown. The last Triple Crown winner was Justify in 2018.

A quick view of social media shows differing opinions on the possibility of Mystick Dan skipping the Preakness and a chance to win the Triple Crown. Some believe the horse should skip because he has already shown he doesn’t adjust well to short breaks between runs. Others believe there should be a longer break between the Derby and the Preakness. Still others believe the Kentucky Derby winners should run in the Preakness if healthy because winning the Triple Crown is supposed to be difficult. Conspiracy theorists suggest Mystik Dan is being protected because a poor showing in the Preakness could diminish his stud value.

Mage won the 2023 Kentucky Derby but finished third in the Preakness behind winner National Treasure. Mage didn’t have enough to catch National Treasure, a rested horse trained by Bob Baffert. It was a record eighth Preakness win for Mr. Baffert and his record 17th victory in a Triple Crown race overall.

Mr. Baffert, suspended from this year’s Kentucky Derby, sends the Arkansas Derby winner, Muth, to the Preakness, which had a seven-horse field last year. Should Mystik Dan run at Pilmico, Muth may still be the favorite, having beaten Mystik Dan at the Arkansas Derby — where Just Steel was second ahead of Mystik Dan.

Mr. McPeek said he’ll continue to monitor Mystik Dan to see if he might be ready to race at Baltimore. “Horses sometimes pop back quickly and sometimes they don’t,” he said. “We’ll just have to take that as it comes.”