Tiger Walk aims toward Preakness

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.