Skippylongstocking

STRENGTHS: He has seen his Beyer Speed Figures improve steadily with each race since the start of 2022, and that includes a career-top figure in his latest try, the Wood Memorial. That was the toughest test he’s faced, and he ran his best race to date, rallying some to finish third with a 91 Beyer. He has shown versatility as well, showing speed but also showing a closing kick under the right circumstances, such as in his allowance win two back. His tactical speed should mean he’s able to work out a favorable trip, regardless of how the race flow develops.

WEAKNESSES: His best effort to date came when third in the Wood, a Derby prep that produced a 96 Beyer Speed Figure. That effort resulted in the best figure of his career, but with the tougher competition he’ll face in the Preakness he may be in for a regression. He’ll have to work out the type of favorable trip that has been a big part of his recent success. He has benefited from the race flows in his last two, and that may or may not be the case in the Preakness.

BETTING VALUE: Figures to be overlooked some in the betting, despite a recent figure that puts him in the middle of this. He’d need to step it up to beat a horse like Epicenter if that rival runs his best race, but he’s capable of getting a part of the exotics at double-digit odds with the right kind of trip.

– Kenny Peck

SIRE: Exaggerator won the 2016 Preakness Stakes and two other Grade 1 routes that year on wet tracks. He is a son of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin, who counted the 2007 Preakness among his major wins. Sons of Curlin have been in the spotlight already this Triple Crown series, as Rich Strike, from the first crop of classic-placed Keen Ice, won the Kentucky Derby. Going back one more generation, Curlin is by Smart Strike, the sire of another Preakness winner and Eclipse champion in Lookin At Lucky, a classic sire in his own right via Country House. Skippylongstocking became the first graded stakes performer for Exaggerator with his third-place finish in the Wood Memorial.

DAM: Twinkling, who was winless in five starts, also is the dam of Moonlite Strike, who was third in last year’s Tampa Bay Derby before cutting back in distance, winning the Roar Stakes sprinting on turf and placing in two other sprint stakes. This is the extended family of Eclipse Award champion female sprinter Musical Romance and of Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup winner Collect the Cash, who in turn produced Stately Victor, winner of the Blue Grass on Polytrack.

OUTLOOK: Skippylongstocking is from one of the most successful sirelines in the history of the Preakness, and a wet track would certainly suit him. However, his female family raises questions about distance and surface.

– Nicole Russo