Kentucky Derby Mane Character: Commanding Curve

Trainer: Dallas Stewart, Louisville

Owner: West Point Thoroughbreds, headquarters in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Jockey: Shaun Bridgmohan, Goshen, Ky.

Family ties: His sire, the late Master Command, earned $1,137,188 and was extremely well-bred, the stallion being a son of Belmont Stakes and Breeders' Cup Classic winner A.P. Indy and of a stamina-inducing Lord at War mare from a strong family. Master Command sired only three crops, suffering a fatal injury when he reared and fell prior to a 2010 breeding session. Commanding Curve's mother is named Mother, a daughter of Lion Hearted and from the female family of Proper Reality, an Arkansas Derby and Metropolitan Mile winner who finished fourth in the 1988 Kentucky Derby.

Running style: He's a closer who can race in a stalking position. But the more speed in the race, the better it will shape up for him.

What they say: Commanding Curve is a ridgling, meaning a testicle has not descended, which does not impact a future stud career. And, says groom Kenny Reeder, he's all horse.

"He's got play on his mind," Reeder said. "He's not a mean horse. He's studdish. You've got to watch him around fillies and ponies. Just aggravating, playing. He's a pain in the butt, but he means it in fun. No matter where you go with him or what you do, he just wants to play with you and bite you. He's good-natured, though, and pretty smart. He's starting to put it all together, mature. But he still has some of that kid in him."

Master Command is a bay with a dollop of white on his forehead and a thin stripe running down his nose.

"He was slow developing, a big horse," said trainer Dallas Stewart. "Big horses, you have to be careful with them, can't do too much with them early, let them deveop and come into themselves. He's a kind horse to be around as far as galloping, but he can be a little aggressive in the stall. Fun horse to be around."

James Perry, an executive in Dallas who is one of the partners in Commanding Curve, named the horse. While the name Commanding Curve doesn't have to do with baseball, West Point Thoroughbreds president Terry Finley said, "but he did play baseball as a kid and is a lifelong baseball fan."