As the man responsible for rebuilding Sagamore Farm shook hands with
the son of the man who oversaw its halcyon days, Tiger Walk stood
stoically in his stall. The other horses in the barn had long since
poked their heads out in response to commotion created by television
crews and a small gathering of reporters. Tiger Walk faced the other
way, looking out his window.
Kevin Plank, the Under Armour founder and CEO who bought Sagamore
Farm in 2007, hopes Tiger Walk can remain unflappable. The 3-year-old is
pointed toward the Preakness and would be the first of Plank’s horses
to go to the gate in Maryland’s premier race. Sagamore’s Monzon raced in
last year’s Belmont Stakes; getting into the Preakness is the next step
toward Plank’s goal of regularly competing for the Triple Crown.
It’s audacious — when has Plank been anything otherwise? — but hardly
unprecedented. Not far from where Plank greeted Alfred G. Vanderbilt
III — whose father owned Sagamore from 1933 to 1986 — the horse Native
Dancer is buried. He lost one race in his entire career: the
controversial 1953 Kentucky Derby, during which he was bumped and then
had to circle the field before finishing second.
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