New, rested opponents await Always Dreaming

After Always Dreaming won the Kentucky Derby as the favorite, the colt will be running in the Preakness with a bull’s-eye on his back. With a victory, Always Dreaming would head to the Belmont Stakes in New York three weeks later with a shot at winning the Triple Crown.

The 142nd Preakness at Pimilco in Baltimore is shaping up to have 11 runners.

Entries are due Wednesday, when post

positions will be drawn. Always Dreaming figures to be the clear favorite. After starting the year without a victory, he’s won four in a row by a combined 23 lengths.

The colt’s arrival has been, well, like a dream since he left Kentucky, trainer Todd Pletcher said.

“We like what we’re seeing so far,” Pletcher said. “All the indications are he’s bounced out of the race quickly. I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly he cooled down after the race and recovered so well even the evening of the Derby.

“All the indications since then have been great.”

The 49-year-old trainer is 0 for 8 in the race. His best finish was third with Impeachment in 2000.

Always Dreaming will be just his second Preakness starter in seven years.

Pletcher has decided Always Dreaming won’t have a timed workout, known as a breeze, before the Preakness.

“He’s putting plenty of energy into his gallops and I just don’t see the need for a breeze,” he said. “I’m just trying to focus the two weeks on kind of refueling the tank a little bit, and hopefully he can show us at the Preakness all that he has and be ready to go.”

Always Dreaming faces different challenges in the Preakness. Unlike the trafficchoked 20-horse field in the 1-mile Derby, the second leg of the Triple Crown is limited to 14 horses running a shorter distance of 1 miles.

Always Dreaming faces new shooters, too. Several horses that skipped the Derby have the advantage of being rested, including Cloud Computing, Conquest Mo Money, Multiplier and Senior Investment.

Some of Always Dreaming’s Derby competition is back to take a shot at knocking him off, including fourthplace finisher Classic Empire.

“I’m running him because we feel he’s the best horse and we want to prove it,” trainer Mark Casse said. “We sure didn’t change our mind given the results of the Derby.”

Also returning from the Derby are secondplace Lookin At Lee, seventh-place Gunnevera and 11th-place Hence.

“I’ve tasted what it’s like to think we are going to win the Kentucky Derby,” said Corey Lanerie, who rides Lookin At Lee. “Now hopefully we can get the job done in the Preakness.”