Always Dreaming is 4-5 early favorite for Preakness

The Kentucky Derby victor has taken 10 of the past 20 Preakness Stakes, with horses who lost in the Derby winning seven times.

So, it’s most likely Always Dreaming again, but hard to like him at 4-5 or so. They had to go all the way back to the drawing board, take him back to a quiet spot in Ocala [Fla.] and start training him up for his final Kentucky Derby prep race.

All eyes are on one horse in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes.

Always Dreaming will look to take his second step toward securing the Triple Crown on Saturday at the Preakness Stakes.

With his colt sitting on ready, Pletcher may well be about to break his Preakness drought. Curiously, jockey John Velazquez has also never won the middle jewel of the Triple Crown, though he’s run second two times.

The added pace pressure should set up things nicely for horses coming from farther back. The colt has been dominant, including his semi-romp in the May 6 Kentucky Derby, winning by a combined 23 lengths. Two weeks later, he won the Lexington Stakes.

“I’d be terrible selfish if I was kicking the dirt and saying, ‘Damn, I don’t have one, ‘ as good as this place has been to me”, Lukas said.

Hence, with Florent Geroux, will move first as the horses enter the stretch, drawing alongside Always Dreaming for about eight strides.

He’s wolfing down crab cakes at every opportunity and offering up local restaurant tips to anyone who asks.

“The champs been knocked down and hes going to come back and try to take back the crown, ” Casse said. He is a best-priced even-money with British bookmakers. In addition, 2016 Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown is represented by his first Preakness starter, Cloud Computing. His off-the-pace, late running style has not proven to be a style that wins the second leg of the Triple Crown.

“Hopefully, they both have good trips, break good and it could be interesting”, said Mark Casse, who trains Classic Empire.

“For me, he is better than he was before the Derby, stronger”, Sano said yesterday.

“It’s fine”, Pletcher said of the draw. “We just hope to keep him on the ground one more day”.

One of the new horses Always Dreaming will face that Goldberg likes?

If you’re doing a superfecta this weekend, include Always Dreaming in there as I don’t see any chance of a finish outside of Top 4 unless there is injury.

Pletcher plans only to jog Always Dreaming on Friday. I don’t know, I just had a good feeling, and my partners had a good feeling.

“We just need to have a nice facility”, he said. We’re not overthinking it. If a horse paid $10, we thought we were rich. With the other speed horse, Conquest Mo Money, coming out of the No. 10, jockey John Velazquez, who will once again pilot the Derby victor, needs to keep his mount from getting trapped along the rail by the horses to his outside. It was quiet around Pimlico last week, when Always Dreaming practiced standing in the starting gate and visiting the paddock area where he will be saddled indoors on Saturday. “It was really good I was able to tell my partner it makes no sense financially, it’s nearly absurd, and the guy said I’m in”, reminisced Finley. “He’s quiet in the stall”. “He likes this track, and the weather Saturday looks good”. I don’t think Classic Empire beats Always Dreaming, but I do think Always Dreaming is going to have his hands full and have to work very hard to beat Classic Empire. His personality and gamesmanship gave us a lot of confidence in him going into the Derby.

Despite overseeing a stable that runs in races nationwide, Pletcher is single-minded in his approach with each horse in his barn. That prevented Classic Empire from getting off to a decent start. “It’s something I’d love to win”.