In Sagamore Farm, Kevin Plank has a long shot with pedigree

Thirty days out from a due date, the mares are brought into the foaling barn, which is like a high-tech, large-scale maternity ward. In one stall a horse born five days earlier sleeps on a fluffy bed of straw beside his mother. Mullikin stepped inside to check on the foal. He wobbles to its feet, teetering on impossibly long longs.

In a paddock nearby, four yearlings run in formation, heads high, then trot to a fence to inspect a visitor, as gentle and inquisitive as a Labrador retriever puppy.

(John McDonnell/THE WASHINGTON POST) - Under Armour founder Kevin Plank poses for a photo on the training track at Sagamore Farm.

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Plank is adamant that Sagamore’s grounds are manicured, its barns pristine and its employees well dressed ( issued burgundy shirts and khaki pants that are laundered for them), courteous and on-task.

The idea is to set a standard, craft an identity and, ultimately, build a brand.

“Whether Ray Lewis plays for the Baltimore Ravens, whether Chris Cooley plays for the Washington Redskins — people are Ravens or Redskins fans, and they want to root for their team,” Plank said.

“What I’d like to build in Sagamore is as much of a brand as what we have built in Under Armour. People trust Under Armour. I go and buy an Under Armour shirt because it’s the best shirt in the world; and I root for a Sagamore horse because I know that a culture of winning exists.”

Saturday at Pimlico, Humble and Hungry, a Sagamore bay colt named for Plank’s self-styled business ethic and trained by Ignacio Correas IV, will run in the James W. Murphy Stakes at 12:53 p.m. Later that afternoon, Shared Account, the filly trained by Motion that Plank hopes will produce a Preakness winner one day, runs in the Gallorette Handicap.

But five years from now, Plank envisions having a horse in the Preakness Stakes. “We want to run in the races that matter,” he said. “And I want people to recognize our silks and take pride when they see our silks run.”

Tim Capps, a scholar in the Equine Program at the University of Louisville’s College of Business and a former executive vice president of the Maryland Jockey Club, has enjoyed watching the run-up.

“You’re always fascinated when a young, successful entrepreneur gets into the business,” Capps said. “There are a lot of people in Maryland racing who have waited for years to see somebody who is committed buy Sagamore because it’s a legacy farm, one of the shining pieces of Maryland breeding. People are watching what he’s doing with their fingers crossed, hoping he’ll succeed.”

Adds Pons, the third-generation Maryland breeder: “If [Plank] said he was going to do this next year, it would be laughable. But 20 years? He has a shot. But he’ll have to have patience. This is a race not to the swift, but to the persevering.”