One day before Rombauer runs in the Preakness Stakes, his older half-brother Treasure Trove will contest the Grade 3 Pimlico Special.

The 3-year-old Rombauer, by Twirling Candy, and the 5-year-old gelding Treasure Trove, by Tapizar, were both bred in Kentucky by John and Diane Fradkin. They are third-generation products of that program, which began when John Fradkin purchased the Afleet mare Ultrafleet for $10,500 as a yearling in 1993.

Several Maryland-breds, including defending winner Harpers First Ride, will fly the flag for their home state in the Grade 3 Pimlico Special on Friday.

Harpers First Ride won the Deputed Testamony last year at Laurel to propel him into the Pimlico Special, which he won last October. He concluded a fine season in his home state by finishing second in the Maryland Million Classic before winning two more stakes at Laurel.

Mandy Pope has spent well over $50 million on broodmares for her Whisper Hill Farm operation in the last nine Novembers at Kentucky’s elite sales. The total purse of Saturday’s Preakness Stakes is $1 million, with $600,000 going to the winning connections. But a victory by Pope’s homebred Unbridled Honor would be priceless.

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Champions Gun Runner and Classic Empire each sired his first winner in the past week at Churchill Downs.

Gun Runner, the 2017 Horse of the Year, is the sire of Red Run, who was sent away favored in his May 9 debut and scored by 1 3/4 lengths on a sloppy track. Red Run, like his six-time Grade 1-winning sire, is trained by Steve Asmussen. He races as a homebred for Winchell Thoroughbreds, which co-campaigned his sire with Three Chimneys Farm. Gun Runner, by Candy Ride, now stands at Three Chimneys.

Six years after the 2015 Kentucky Derby victory that kicked off his Triple Crown sweep, an already huge month of May for American Pharoah could get even more significant.

Thoroughbreds are often evaluated on paper – on how those black-and-white squares of past performances and Beyer Speed Figures and statistics line up against their foes. But intangible things also can elevate a horse. And if that quality known as heart – the will to win when the chips are down – can be found in a scrutiny of bloodlines, then Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit has come by his honestly.

Malathaat avenged the 2013 Kentucky Oaks loss of her dam, Dreaming of Julia, with a victory in the filly classic on Friday at Churchill Downs. She and her dam were both brought to the Oaks by trainer Todd Pletcher, who achieved an exacta of sorts in this year’s edition. He also trained Co Cola, dam of Search Results, a hard-fought second to Malathaat on Friday.

The late Hall of Famer A.P. Indy left a lasting legacy as a sire of sires and as a leading broodmare sire. A.P. Indy and three of his sons accounted for seven graded stakes victories as broodmare sires on the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks cards last week at Churchill Downs.

Almost a quarter-century ago, Bob Baffert began his run into the Kentucky Derby record book with a modestly priced Florida-bred. The Hall of Fame trainer recorded his record seventh Derby victory with another one.

Medina Spirit, a $1,000 yearling who was later purchased for $35,000 on behalf of Amr Zedan as a juvenile, became the seventh Florida-bred to win the Kentucky Derby. Baffert’s seventh Derby win allowed him to break a tie for most wins in the race with the legendary Ben Jones.