Keeping It In The Family: 2019 Preakness Stakes

Signalman joins the Triple Crown in Baltimore

An eventful Kentucky Derby (G1) has paved the way to what looks to be a competitive 13 runner Preakness Stakes (G1) with many horses jumping on the Triple Crown train here. While four horses will be coming into this race out of the Kentucky Derby, nine new horses are looking for classic success in Baltimore.

With that in mind it is a good time to look at the pedigrees of this weekend's Preakness runners.

Returning Runners: This year’s Preakness Stakes includes four horses who ran in the Kentucky Derby (G1), the same amount of Derby runners who ran in last year’s Preakness. However, unlike last year – and every year since Grindstone (Unbridled) in 1996 – the Kentucky Derby winner will not be in the race. The highest placed Derby runner in this year’s Preakness will be Improbable (City Zip), who finished fourth in the Kentucky Derby.

Birthdays: Early-born foals dominate the Preakness Stakes entries with six of the runners born in February. That group is led by Into Mischief’s Market King, who was born on February 9. March has three runners as does April with the youngest runner being Laughing Fox (Union Rags), who was born on May 16 – nearly a month after the second youngest in Bodexpress (Bodemeister).

Into Mischief: The only stallion to have more than one runner in this year’s Preakness Stakes is Into Mischief (Harlan’s Holiday) with Market King and Owendale. Into Mischief’s rise to fame can be seen in his stud fee difference here with a 400 percent increase from $30,000 to $150,000. The stallion was also represented in a slightly different way at Churchill Downs with By My Standards (Goldencents), a runner for his son in the Kentucky Derby.

Into Mischief's Market King is the most expensive horse in the Preakness field.

Sires: City Zip (Carson City) is the oldest stallion with a Preakness Stakes runner, being 17 at the time of Improbable’s conception. Improbable is from the third-to-last crop from the sire, who died in July of 2017. The youngest stallions at time of conception were Bodemeister (Empire Maker), Take Charge Indy (A.P. Indy) and Union Rags (Dixie Union) with all three six years of age.

The average age of the sires at time of conception was 9.9 years, slightly lower than the Kentucky Derby at 10.45 years.

A.P. Indy: Enjoying retired life in his pasture at Lane’s End in Versailles, A.P. Indy (Seattle Slew) will be making a big splash in Baltimore this weekend. The 30-year-old is the sire or grandsire of four of the 12 stallions with runners in the Preakness (33 percent) with three other runners out of his daughters or granddaughters. A.P. Indy features in the pedigrees of seven of the 13 runners for over half the field.

A.P. Indy's Preakness winner Bernardini is the damsire of one Preakness winner and the grandsire of another.

To put that in perspective, Northern Dancer – who died the year after A.P. Indy was born – has six runners from his sireline through their sires or damsires (not only his sons of grandsons). Mr. Prospector has slightly more runners with seven, but he retired 14 years before A.P. Indy was even born. It should be noted however that Northern Dancer features in both the sire and damsire’s sirelines in two horses (Laughing Fox and War Of Will) and Mr. Prospector in two as well (Bodexpress and Warrior’s Charge), which is something A.P. Indy doesn’t have in this race.

Dams: The dams in this race average eight years of age at conception, which is just a tick lower than the Kentucky Derby’s average age of 8.65 years old. The youngest mare at time of conception was Warrior’s Charge’s (Munning) dam Battling Brook at four years of age while the oldest is War Of Will’s (War Front) 15-year-old dam Visions Of Clarity, who also held that title in the Derby.

Dam On-Track Success: Bourbon War (Tapit) has the most accomplished dam of any runner with My Conquestadory (Artie Schiller) winning a Grade 1. That mare is the only graded winner in the field though both Laughing Fox’s and War Of Will’s dams are stakes winners and Warrior’s Charge’s is stakes placed. Of the 13 runners, three have unraced dams with two Preakness runners having dams who didn’t win on the track.

Dam Breeding Success: Bodexpress’ dam is the only one not to produce a winner yet with two foals on the ground, though Bodexpress is Grade 1 placed. Three of the Preakness runners are the first foals from their dams while four others are one of multiple winners from their 100 percent producing dams. Three other runners are from mares who have only one non-winner from multiple runners. War Of Will is the only Preakness runner whose dam has produced a stakes winner other than himself with the colt a half-brother to champion Pathfork.

Auctions: All but two of the runners have sold at public auction at least once with five last going through the ring at Keeneland’s September Yearling Sale. War of Will also went through the Keeneland ring in September, RNAing at $175,000 then selling for €250,000 at Arqana as a 2-year-old. The average price for Preakness runners the last time they went through the ring is $248,595, $27,121 more than the 10 Derby runners who sold.

The most expensive Preakness runner is Market King, who sold at Keeneland September for $550,000 from Lane’s End. Finishing third in the Rebel Stakes (G2) two starts ago, he is a grandson of two-time European champion Divine Proportions with two more champions under his third dam.

Preakness Runners

Horse	Sire	Stud Fee 2019	Dam	Highest Level Raced
Alwaysmining	Stay Thirsty	$6,000	What Will Be	Winner
Anothertwistafate	Scat Daddy		Imprecation	Placed
Bodexpress	Bodemeister	$20,000	Pied a Terre	Unraced
Bourbon War	Tapit	$225,000	My Conquestadory	G1 Winner
Everfest	Take Charge Indy		Awesome Surprise	Winner
Improbable	City Zip		Rare Event	Winner
Laughing Fox	Union Rags	$60,000	Saskawea	Stakes winner /G3P
Market King	Into Mischief	$150,000	Divine Presence	Runner
Owendale	Into Mischief	$150,000	Aspen Light	Unraced
Signalman	General Quarters		Trip South	Unraced
War of Will	War Front	$250,000	Visions of Clarity	Stakes winner /G3P
Warrior's Charge	Munnings	$20,000	Battling Brook	Stakes Placed
Win Win Win	Hat Trick		Miss Smarty Pants	Winner