The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
RIDING THE DREAM
Always Dreaming outpaces field in slop to win first leg of Triple Crown
John Velazquez rides Always Dreaming to victory in the 143rd running of the Kentucky Derby horse race at Churchill Downs Saturday in Louisville, Ky.
LOUISVILLE, KY. >> A trainer and jockey accustomed to success. A headstrong horse with a mind of its own. Together, they harnessed their collective talents to win the Kentucky Derby.
Always Dreaming splashed through the slop for a 2 ¾-length victory on Saturday, giving Todd Pletcher and rider John Velazquez their second victories in the race but their first together.
The New York-based duo has teamed up often over the years and is the sport’s leading money winners. On their own, they were a combined 2 for 63 coming into America’s greatest race.
Joining forces, they were unbeatable on a cool and rainy day at Churchill Downs.
“This is so special to win this race with Johnny,” Pletcher said. “We’ve been together for all these years and this is sweet.”
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.
He was followed across the finish line by a pair of longshots: 33-1 Lookin At Lee and 40-1 Battle of Midway.
Always Dreaming ran 1 ¼ miles in 2:03.59 and paid $11.40, $7.20 and $5.80.
“This is the best horse Todd and I have ever come to the Kentucky Derby with,” Velazquez said.
Lookin At Lee returned $26.60 and $18.20, while Battle of Midway was another five lengths back in third and paid $20.80 to show.
Pletcher won his first Derby in 2010 with Super Saver; Velazquez won the following
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