Always Dreaming just made his stakes debut in the Florida Derby (G1) on April 1, and one race later was crowned victor of Kentucky Derby 143 after pulling off in the stretch to score under jockey John Velazquez.
Giving trainer Todd Pletcher just his second Derby winner, the dark bay colt tracked early pacesetter State of Honor down the backstretch before taking command and easily drawing off to finish 1 1/4 miles over the sloppy, sealed track at Churchill Downs in 2:03.59.
Sent off at 9-2, Always Dreaming paid $11.40 . Lookin at Lee, sent off at 33-1, came next while Battle of Midway finished out the top three at 40-1. Classic Empire, Practical Joke and Tapwrit came next under the wire.
“I knew we had a big shot with this horse and I was hoping it would happen,” said Todd Pletcher, trainer of Always Dreaming. “The trip unfolded not exactly the way we had planned. We knew for sure we didn’t want to be behind a wall of horses and that turned out OK. Johnny (Velazquez) of course rode him great.
“This is so special to win this race with Johnny. We’ve been together for all these years and this is sweet. I’m sorry I don’t have a clue about my other two horses. I was so intense following Always Dreaming up front that I never did get a chance to pick them up.”
Always Dreaming improved his record to reach 6-4-1-1 with the Derby victory.
“This is the best horse Todd (Pletcher) and I have ever come to the Kentucky Derby with,” said John Velazquez, rider of Always Dreaming. “Nothing against all the others, but this was the best horse. I got a good position with him early and then he relaxed. When we hit the quarter pole, I asked him and he responded. He did it himself from there.”
Trainer Quotes
Steve Asmussen, trainer of Lookin At Lee (2nd)/Hence (11th)/Untrapped (12th) –”I’m definitely proud of ‘Lee.’ He just keeps coming. Drawing the one was tough. He’s the first horse in 20 years to run in the top three from the one hole. A lot of credit goes to Corey (Lanerie) for navigating a very good course from there. To me, the Kentucky Derby, everything about it is a thrill. I’m just proud of the effort of Lookin at Lee and the whole team. Hats off to the winner. He ran an incredible race. With Untrapped, Ricardo (Santana Jr.) found a really good spot with him. It just ran away from him in the middle. Hence didn’t run into the mud hitting him.”
Jerry Hollendorfer, trainer of Battle of Midway (3rd) – “I thought our horse gave a nice effort. We had a good position coming into the lane but Todd’s horse was too good.”
Mark Casse, trainer of Classic Empire (4th)/State of Honor (19th) – “We got wiped out at the start. That’s the problem with the auxiliary gate. McCraken came and nearly knocked us. Classic Empire really got clobbered. The track is impossible. Our horse ran extremely well, considering. State of Honor didn’t like the track. I should have told Jose (Lezcano) to go right to the rail because the track has been so speed favoring, especially on the rail.”
Chad Brown, trainer of Practical Joke (5th) — “We got a beautiful trip from the 19 hole. I thought Joel (Rosario) did as well as he could. My horse really got a dream trip, I thought. He even got to the inside where it appeared the track had been better the last two days. He cut the corner and he just couldn’t sustain his run. I thought he handled the conditions well and so did Joel. Can’t blame the track. I think today he showed he just has a limit to how far he can run. He’s a fine racehorse, he’s a Grade 1 racehorse. He just can’t go this classic distance. I’ll talk to the owners, we’ll give him a little bit of a breather, and we’ll focus on races a little bit shorter than this.”
Antonio Sano, trainer of Gunnevera, (7th) – “He came back very well. We have no excuse.”
Ian Wilkes, trainer of McCraken (8th) – “I got a great ride. He got knocked around a bit leaving there but that’s the Derby. I thought he got him in a good rhythm, got him in a good position. He made his move and I got a little excited but he didn’t finish it off. The winner was too good.”
Jockey Quotes
Corey Lanerie, rider of Lookin At Lee (2nd) – “My horse ran great. I’m caught with seconditis – second in the Preakness and now second in the Derby. I’m still very happy.”
Flavien Prat, rider of Battle of Midway (3rd) – “We got a good trip. He broke well from the track, took me right there. He ran a huge race. He gave me everything he had.”
Julien Leparoux, rider of Classic Empire (4th) – “We got bumped around really hard at the start which put us in a very tough position early. He really only had one race before this but we’ll get them next time.”
Joel Rosario, rider of Practical Joke (5th) — “Going into the final turn I thought we were in a great spot but turning for home my horse just stayed in the same spot.”
Jose Ortiz, rider of Tapwrit (6th) — “In the beginning the 17 hole (Irish War Cry) came over on me. I got in good position behind Classic Empire but he didn’t respond today.”
Javier Castellano, rider of Gunnevera, (7th) – “I didn’t think he handled the (sloppy) track at all. In the beginning, he was holding it together, but when asked him for speed and to pick it up, he struggled quite a bit. It was disappointing.”
Brian Hernandez Jr., rider of McCraken (8th) – “We got knocked around a little bit leaving there but from that point on we had a pretty uneventful trip. Turning for home we just weren’t on the best horse today.”
From Churchill Downs Communications