Always Dreaming leaves field in his tracks
Hollendorfer horse Battle of Midway takes third
Jockey John Velazquez guides Always Dreaming across the finish line ahead of Lookin At Lee to win the Kentucky Derby on a soggy Saturday afternoon. Battle of Midway, trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, finished third.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Always Dreaming splashed through the slop to win the Kentucky Derby by 23⁄4 lengths on Saturday, giving trainer Todd Pletcher and jockey John Velazquez their second victories in the race but their first together.
Pletcher and Velazquez have teamed up often over the years and are the sport’s leading money winners. Individually, they were a combined 2-for-63 in the Derby.
But, together, they were unbeatable Saturday, on a cool and rainy afternoon at Churchill Downs.
Sent off at 9-2 odds, Always Dreaming made it the fifth straight year that a Derby favorite has won, the longest such stretch since the 1970s.
Always Dreaming was followed across the finish line by two longshots: 33-1 Lookin At Lee and 40-1 Battle of Midway.
Always Dreaming ran 11⁄4 miles in 2:03.59 and paid $11.40, $7.20 and $5.80.
Lookin At Lee returned $26.60 and $18.20, while Jerry Hollendorfer’s Battle of Midway was another five lengths back in third and paid $20.80 to show.
“I thought he ran a real decent race,” Hollendorfer said of Battle of Midway. “We thought he belonged, and he certainly did.”
This was the best finish for Hollendorfer, of Point Richmond, in six tries in the Kentucky Derby.
Pletcher won his first Derby in 2010 with Super Saver; Velazquez won the following year with Animal Kingdom.
Going into his 17th Derby, Pletcher saddled the post-time favorite for the first time. Much had been made of his 1-for-45 Derby record. Altogether, he’s had 48 runners, tying mentor D. Wayne Lukas for the most in Derby history.
“It’s becoming a little more respectable now,” Pletcher said.
Velazquez used his colt’s speed out of the gate to get good position early in a chaotic start that saw several horses, including Classic Empire, get sandwiched. He steered Always Dreaming into an ideal trip behind pacesetter State of Honor, with mud flying in all directions on a track that resembled creamy peanut butter.
On the final turn, Always Dreaming took command as State of Honor faded. Despite chasing a quick early pace, Always Dreaming was still full of run. No other horses threatened him down the stretch and Velazquez furiously pumped his right arm as they crossed the finish line.
Always Dreaming earned his fourth straight victory, proving that his five-length win in the Florida Derby was no fluke.
By winning the Derby, he accomplished something his sire Bodemeister couldn’t do. Bodemeister finished second in the 2012 race.
Classic Empire finished fourth, followed by Practical Joke, Tapwrit, Gunnevera, McCraken, Gormley and Irish War Cry. Hence was 11th, followed by Untrapped, Girvin, one-eyed Patch, J Boys Echo, Sonneteer, Fast And Accurate, Irap, and State of Honor.
In addition to Battle of Midway, Gromley and Irap were trained in California.
Hollendorfer said that, while he hasn’t discussed it with the horse’s owners, his plan would be to not run Battle of Midway in the Preakness Stakes May 20. “This horse’s value is going to come when he wins a Grade 1 and there is no point in running him back in two weeks,” he said.