Preakness 2022: A look at pedigrees in the field
BALTIMORE – Smart Strike and his sons have been extremely successful in producing stamina for the Triple Crown series – and, indeed, have stood out in the Preakness Stakes, specifically.
That history is one of the best things that longshots Fenwick and Skippylongstocking will have going for them in Saturday’s Preakness. Fenwick is by Smart Strike’s two-time Horse of the Year Curlin, while Skippylongstocking is by Curlin’s son Exaggerator. Both sires are Preakness winners themselves.
Curlin won the 2007 Preakness among his seven Grade/Group 1 victories in routes on dirt. Three years later, Smart Strike got a second Preakness winner with 2010 victor Lookin At Lucky, a two-time Eclipse Award champion. Both have gone on to be classic sires, with Curlin particularly consistent in that regard.
In addition to 2013 Belmont Stakes winner Palace Malice and 2016 Preakness winner Exaggerator, Curlin also is the sire of 2014 Preakness runner-up Ride On Curlin, 2015 Belmont third-place finisher Keen Ice, 2017 Belmont runner-up Irish War Cry, and 2018 Kentucky Derby runner-up Good Magic. Good Magic is one of his several Eclipse Award champions who have displayed two-turn ability on dirt.
Meanwhile, Lookin At Lucky's son Country House was elevated to victory in the 2019 Derby. Lookin At Lucky also continued to display his stamina influence by siring the likes of champion Accelerate.
Exaggerator will attempt to become the second son of Curlin to carry on this classic legacy by siring the winner of a Triple Crown race this season. Keen Ice is the sire of Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike.
Smart Strike, by Mr. Prospector, and Unbridled, a grandson of the great stallion, have both been dominant American classic lines, with Unbridled's flag flown here by the filly Secret Oath.
Unbridled, the 1990 Derby and Breeders' Cup Classic winner, sired a winner of each of the Triple Crown races, in 1996 Derby winner Grindstone, 2000 Preakness winner Red Bullet, and 2003 Belmont winner Empire Maker. Grindstone sired 2004 Belmont winner Birdstone, in turn the sire of 2009 Derby winner Mine That Bird and Belmont winner Summer Bird.
Empire Maker's branch of the line has flourished recently. Pioneerof the Nile is the sire of 2015 Triple Crown hero American Pharoah, in addition to 2017 Preakness runner-up Classic Empire and 2014 Preakness third Social Inclusion. Empire Maker's son Bodemeister, runner-up in the 2012 Derby, sired 2017 Derby winner Always Dreaming in his first crop.
The late Arrogate, by Unbridled's son Unbridled's Song, burst onto the scene in the summer of his 3-year-old season, and Secret Oath's dam, Absinthe Minded, came to hand at age 4. While coming back on short rest is a tall order for many of the Preakness entrants, Secret Oath's pedigree suggests that she has more in the tank.
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The late European Horse of the Year Giant's Causeway, another powerful stamina influence, will conclude his career without siring an American classic winner. However, several of his sons and grandsons are in the mix here.
Derby runner-up Epicenter and fourth-place finisher Simplification are both by the red-hot Not This Time. Interestingly, both are bred on a similar pedigree pattern to the one that produced Horse of the Year Gun Runner. He is by Candy Ride and out of a Giant's Causeway mare. Both these colts are by a son of Giant's Causeway and out of Candy Ride mares. Gun Runner himself is represented by Early Voting and is seeking to become the second straight son of Candy Ride to sire a Preakness winner. Last year's victor, Rombauer, is by Candy Ride's son Twirling Candy.
Meanwhile, Creative Minister is by the useful Creative Cause, who gave Giant's Causeway one of his three placings in the Triple Crown series when third in the 2012 Preakness. Creative Minister bears a strong resemblance to broodmare sire Tapit, the most successful sire in the modern history of the Belmont Stakes.
In addition to Curlin and Exaggerator, Preakness winner Oxbow also will be attempting to sire a Preakness winner. Oxbow is the sire of Happy Jack, another colt out of a Tapit mare.
Completing the field is Armagnac, a son of the brilliant Quality Road, one of the best established sires in the United States who has yet to sire a Triple Crown race winner.