Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Always Dreaming moves on to Pimlico
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming is scheduled to arrive at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore this morning to get an early start on preparations for the May 20 Preakness Stakes.
It’s a strategic move for trainer Todd Pletcher, who endured several tense moments as he tried to settle Always Dreaming in the runup to the Derby.
The colt struggled to adjust to Churchill Downs when he arrived, showing far more aggressiveness than Pletcher wanted during his morning gallops. The trainer responded by changing exercise riders and putting Always Dreaming in draw reins, which anchor to the girth (the piece of equipment that keeps the saddle in place) and give the jockey more leverage to check the horse’s momentum.
Pletcher said Always Dreaming was less hyper when shipped to unfamiliar tracks in the past. But it’s striking that he’s giving the Derby champion almost two weeks to adjust to Pimlico. He said he’ll likely keep the draw reins on as well.
“He was so headstrong when he got here that I don’t think staying here for another week is going to be an advantage,” Pletcher said Sunday morning. “I don’t think going to Belmont for a week and then moving again is an advantage. So just looking at what the options are, I think Pimlico, there aren’t usually a lot of horses training there, and it’ll be a quiet environment. It’ll give us time to settle in and if we need to, make any adjustments.”
Pletcher is winless in eight attempts at the Preakness and is actually known for skipping the race to rest his horses for the Belmont Stakes. His previous Derby winner, Super Saver, finished a disappointing eighth at Pimlico in 2010.
But he said he’s looking forward to putting Always Dreaming in Stall 40 at Pimlico, the corner spot traditionally reserved for the Derby winner.
“I think we want to follow the tradition,” he said. “That stall’s been successful plenty of times. And Pimlico is usually great. They’re very accommodating.”
Meanwhile, Always Dreaming’s owners, childhood friends Vinnie Viola and Anthony Bonomo, have been reflecting on their family connections to the sport.
Viola, the Florida Panthers owner, learned to handicap at his father’s side during regular trips to Aqueduct Racetrack and Belmont Park. John Viola moved to the United States from Italy when he was 3 years old, went back as a soldier in the Army during World War II and finally settled into a long career as a truck driver and New York union advocate.
Vinnie Viola bought his first thoroughbreds in 1997, hoping to give his father some inspiration after he was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. The two of them had started going to the track again as a way of spending time together.
John Viola died in 1999, and his eldest son stayed away from the races for 12 years after that. He returned in 2011 and has rapidly built his St. Elias Stable, named after the missionary whose saint day was also his father’s birthday.
Viola is best known as the Panthers’ owner and the man who withdrew from consideration as President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of the Army because of potential conflicts with his private businesses.
But on Saturday, he said, he was just a kid, hearing his father’s booming voice as he watched a magnificent horse run to the finish line.
“He always talked to the jockey,” Viola said. “He would’ve been saying, ‘Not now, Johnny! Not now!’ ”