Television ratings for Saturday’s Preakness Stakes declined significantly versus last year, no doubt impacted by the decision by trainer Bill Mott and owners Godolphin to skip the Middle Jewel with Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty.

The Preakness broadcast averaged about 4.6 million viewers on NBC for the race segment of the broadcast, from 6:35 to 7:25 p.m., according to Sports Business Journal. During the 15-minute segment that included the race itself, the number of viewers rose to 5.9 million.

Last year the race segment averaged about 5.5 million, so this year’s figure represented a 16% decline.

Excluding the pandemic year, when the Preakness was run in October, that was the smallest audience for the second leg of the Triple Crown since 1995.

Despite the headwinds, the Preakness still clocked in as the weekend’s most-watched sporting event, topping the third round of the PGA Championship, among others. Those who did tune in saw an exciting 150^th renewal of the Preakness, with Journalism overcoming heavy traffic in upper stretch and a large deficit to run down Gosger late to win.