Linkage (born in 1979 in Kentucky) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse he was the son of Hoist the Flag and grandson to Tom Rolfe.
At age three he was shipped with the rest of trainer Henry S. Clark's stable of horses to New Orleans, Louisiana for the winter.
In late January he won the grade three $80,000 Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds Race Course over Soy Emperor at a mile and one sixteenth.
Linkage was then shipped to Kentucky and was entered in the $150,000 grade one Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland Race Course at a mile and one eighth.
Five weeks after his Blue Grass victory, his trainer Henry S. Clark entered Linkage in the $200,000 Preakness Stakes was run at a mile and three sixteenths on dirt at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland.
He Linkage broke well in second place under Bill Shoemaker but was aggressively rated back to third going into Pimlico's famous "Clubhouse Turn.