Fans will be forgiven if they have some nostalgic feelings or even misty eyes today, on Preakness Day, when Michael Matz saddles a bay colt who will carry the blue, green and white silks of Lael Stables out onto the Pimlico track.

Nicanor, the 4-year-old full brother to ill-fated 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro, is a contender in the Grade II Dixie Stakes, the race immediately preceding the Preakness - a race his older brother was favored in but never finished.

Barbaro, also trained by Matz, won the 2006 Derby in such emphatic fashion that many were stamping him as the best Triple Crown prospect in years. The colt came to Pimlico undefeated, but disaster struck just about an eighth of a mile into the Preakness when he was pulled up with severe fractures to his right hind leg. Although the prognosis was grim, owners Roy and Gretchen Jackson wanted to give the colt a chance and he indeed survived for over eight months after his injury. But just weeks after talk of releasing the colt from the veterinary hospital began, complications from the hoof disease laminitis necessitated that he be euthanized on Jan. 29, 2007.

Nicanor was born shortly before that 2006 Derby, a product of mating the stallion Dynaformer to the Carson City mare La Ville Rouge. Barbaro and Nicanor also have two younger full brothers, the 3-year-old Lentenor, who is also a winner on the turf, and a yearling named Margano. The names of all four colts come from a portrait of a family of foxhounds that hangs in the Jacksons’ home.

Nicanor didn’t flash the same early brilliance as Barbaro, who won the first six starts of his career. The colt lost his first three starts, all on dirt, before Matz switched him to the turf, the surface Barbaro began his career on. The result was a dazzling 15 length maiden score last May. Nicanor won his second start on the turf, too, an allowance race in June. But an injury while training forced him to the sidelines for the rest of the year. Nicanor made his return in an allowance race at Keeneland in April, racing in contention throughout before fading late to be a close fifth in a blanket finish.

Nicanor, who is 8-1 on the morning line, brings a career record of 6-2-2-0 into the Dixie, a nine furlong event on the turf. He will be ridden by Robby Albarado and they break from the outside in the field of 13.

The morning line favorite, at 3-1, is the millionaire turf specialist Just As Well, a Grade I winner last year. Jonathan Sheppard gives a leg up to Eclipse Award winner Julien Leparoux, and they leave from post 4. Also in the field is Grassy, who finished second in Nicanor’s comeback race last time out.

The Dixie is one of six stakes on the Preakness undercard.

Some familiar faces will be on hand for the Grade III William Donald Schaefer, a mile and a sixteenth event on the main track. Bullsbay won the Whitney and finished third in the Woodward last summer at Saratoga. Looking to rebound from a last-place finish in his 2010 debut, he breaks from the rail in a field of nine under Leparoux. Favored in the race is 4-year-old Blame. The colt brings in a lifetime record of 8-5-1-2 and capped last season with a victory over older horses in the Clark. The 8-5 shot breaks from post 7 under Garrett Gomez. Also in the field are Flying Private, who was fourth in last year’s Preakness for Hall of Fame trainer Wayne Lukas, and Understatement, a two-time stakeswinner at the Aqueduct meet for trainer Todd Pletcher.

In the Grade III Gallorette, a mile and a sixteenth on the turf for fillies and mares, millionaire Rainbow View faces off with Payton d’Oro, who won the Black Eyed Susan on the Pimlico dirt last year. Rainbow View, a Group I winner in Europe and Grade I placed after coming to North America last year, is fresh off a win in her 2010 debut for trainer Jonathan Sheppard. She breaks from post 3 as the evening money favorite under Leparoux. Meanwhile, Payton d’Oro is coming off a win in the Bayakoa at Oaklawn Park and leaves from post 5 under Terry Thompson. The local hope is Blind Date, who breaks from post 10 under Kent Desormeaux. The filly is a 20-1 longshot on the morning line, but is 2-for-2 at Pimlico with a win in the Hilltop Stakes on Preakness weekend last year. She has also won several races at nearby Laurel Park.

Defending champion Ravalo returns in the Grade III Maryland Sprint Handicap, a six furlong event for older horses. The 6-year-old gelding is 2-for-2 at Pimlico, both stakes races last year. Ravalo leaves from post 7 as a 5-1 shot under Johnny Velazquez.

The other stakes on the card are the Grade III Chick Lang Stakes, a sprint for 3-year-olds named in honor of the late "Mr. Preakness," and the James W. Murphy Stakes at a mile on the turf for 3-year-olds.