The late sire Smart Strike sired a pair of Preakness Stakes winners in Curlin (2007) and Lookin At Lucky (2010). The stallion’s influence was strongly present at Pimlico this Preakness Stakes weekend, with Curlin siring three graded stakes winners on Friday’s card and another champion son of Smart Strike, English Channel, represented by a pair of stakes winners Saturday.

Entering this year, War Front was already the most expensive stallion in North America, with graded/group stakes winners worldwide on both dirt and turf and massive success in the commercial arena. There was one frontier he had yet to cross, however, as he hadn’t yet sired a Grade 1-winning male around two turns on dirt. War Front answered that question earlier this year, as Omaha Beach won the Arkansas Derby to make himself the Kentucky Derby morning-line favorite before being scratched days before the race due to an entrapped epiglottis.

One Bad Boy
Twirling Candy – Cumulonimble, by Stormy Atlantic
Bred in Ontario by Ron Clarkson ($65,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase by Say Jay Racing)

The Canadian Triple Crown is a unique challenge in that it requires races on a variety of surfaces. One Bad Boy, a candidate for this year’s series, is by a stallion and out of a mare who both ran well on three different types of surfaces throughout their careers.

The young classic sire Bodemeister will be represented in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes by Bodexpress, looking to become the first maiden to win the second jewel of the Triple Crown since 1888. But regardless of the result, Bodemeister’s ties to a century-plus of racing history already run deep. The young stallion was bred by Audley Farm of Berryville, Va., less than 100 miles from Pimlico, and the former home of 1919 Triple Crown winner Sir Barton.

Alwaysmining has won six straight races, including five stakes, at Laurel Park in his home state of Maryland. If he keeps his win streak going in the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, he will become the ninth Maryland-bred and the first in more than three decades to win his state’s signature race.

Maryland-breds to win the Preakness are Cloverbrook (1877), Dunboyne (1887), Refund (1888), Sly Fox (1898), Challedon (1939), Kauai King (1966), Bee Bee Bee (1972), and Deputed Testamony (1983).

Owners and breeders Robert Manfuso and Katy Voss have a long and prolific background in the Maryland racing industry. They are writing one of the latest chapters in their partnership with the broodmare Tanca, a multiple stakes producer.

The mare recorded a rarity in March, as her offspring Cordmaker and Las Setas won stakes on the same day. The two will attempt to take that to a higher level Friday in Baltimore, as Cordmaker will start in the Grade 3 Pimlico Special about a half-hour before Las Setas looks to keep her winning streak going in the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes.

Last year, each passing race in the Triple Crown highlighted the magnitude of the loss of the stallion Scat Daddy, as his son Justify swept through Louisville, Baltimore, and New York undefeated.

There was still one more crop of runners waiting in the wings for Scat Daddy, who had died at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Kentucky in December 2015 at age 11. And one of those runners is bound for Baltimore this week.

Alex and JoAnn Lieblong’s home track is Oaklawn Park in their home state of Arkansas. The Lieblongs chose their blue and white racing colors based on their shared alma mater, Conway High School. Alex Lieblong is further involved in the state industry as the chairman of the Arkansas Racing Commission, and the couple was among the leading owners at Oaklawn’s recently concluded meet.

Lookin At Lucky was anything but lucky in the 2010 Kentucky Derby. He got a nightmare trip while breaking from the rail, finishing sixth as the favorite on a sloppy, sealed track. But nine years later, Lookin At Lucky’s longshot son Country House, who broke toward the opposite end of the large field, had a more fortuitous time of things in the Kentucky Derby.

The late, great leading sire Danzig was expected to have an impact on this Kentucky Derby through his son War Front, the most expensive stallion in North America. But War Front ran into bad luck Kentucky Derby week, with morning-line favorite Omaha Beach scratched and War of Will encountering a troubled trip. But the versatile Danzig line still had its point of pride, as Danzig’s son War Chant is the broodmare sire of official victor Country House.