Always Dreaming’s Triple Crown dream ends
— For Always Dreaming, the first half of the Preakness went exactly as planned.
Locked in a battle with Classic Empire, the Kentucky Derby winner reached the midpoint of Saturday’s race with a narrow lead. And then, quite unexpectedly, Always Dreaming simply ran out of energy. As the weary dark bay colt faded into the middle of the pack, so did his chances of capturing the Triple Crown.
Jockey John Velazquez knew he was in trouble as the horses turned for home in the 13⁄16-mile race.
“You could see he just got beat,” Velazquez said. “I didn’t have it. That’s it. Not much to say.”
Running a mere two weeks after romping to victory at Churchill Downs, Always Dreaming hit the stretch in sixth and huffed and puffed to the finish line in eighth.
“We were in a position we expected to be,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “I think he just turned around and was a little too quick. He ran so hard in the Derby, and today just wasn’t his day. … He didn’t seem to relish the track, but I don’t really think that was it. Just put too much into the Derby. It wasn’t meant to be today.”
The loss left Pletcher 0-for9 at the Preakness.
The winner, Cloud Computing, skipped the Kentucky Derby and was far fresher than Always Dreaming.
Always Dreaming won his previous four races and was unbeaten before this loss. The Belmont is next month.
“I don’t like to make any decisions immediately after the race,” Pletcher said. “You’ve got to let the dust settle a little bit and not let your emotions get involved. Initially, it looks like he came back well.”