Always Dreaming wins Kentucky Derby in slop

“With all the success we’ve had in the past, winning important races, missing this one is definitely a big one. On the turn I asked him and he didn’t really respond, but then he surprised me and kept on after the victor”, said Prat. He was no doubt the alpha horse when he took over at the top of the stretch putting away every challenger easily.

It marked the sixth year in a row that a victor of one of the 100-point prep races emerged to win the Derby. “The first was extra special and I have a tremendous respect for how hard it is to win, but we needed another one as a team to put it together”. This is all the more sweet. His position in the starting gate aside, Irish War Cry was impressive earlier this season with wins in the Holy Bull and Wood Memorial races.

“I think the first one’s special, but this one is just as good or even better”, Pletcher said. On the back stretch, I took a hold of him.

Super Saver only won the Kentucky Derby because he was the recipient of a flawless rail-skimming trip in a roughly run race; Always Dreaming ran away with the Run for the Roses because he proved, unequivocally, that he was a far superior horse to his 19 rivals.

His time of 2:03.59 wasn’t fast, unless you factor in the mud, the same thing that knocked heavy favorite Paradise Woods out of the money in the Kentucky Oaks the day before.

The rail was the place to be on Saturday. There were questions in the morning about whether Always Dreaming was going to relax, but Velazquez was happy with how he responded and settled on the outside. It was another five lengths back to Battle of Midway, a longer shot at 40-to-1. “Nothing against all the others, but this was the best horse”.

Battle of Midway, second in the Santa Anita Derby, finished third and Classic Empire, last year’s 2-year-old champion and victor of the Arkansas Derby, was fourth after being slammed sideways at the start.

Classic Empire, victor of the 2016 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and the morning line favorite, was jostled at the start.

Always Dreaming, given a picture-perfect ride by his Hall of Fame jockey, sat second just off early pace-setter State of Honor during the long run down the backstretch. He rallied for fourth, but was beaten nearly nine lengths. “We expect another Adjusted EBITDA record with growth of $4.0-to-$6.0 million over last year’s Kentucky Derby week”. Pletcher won the race in 2010 with Super Saver. Velazquez also won the Florida Derby aboard Orb. “But in 17 years we have two wins, two seconds and three thirds so it’s become a little more respectable now”. Thunder Snow, the Godolphin entry, bucked in the first 50 yards of the race and was immediately pulled up without further incident.

Despite the inclement weather, the announced crowd at Churchill Downs was 158,070. The horse raced to a win and will now embark on a path toward the rare feat of trying to win the Triple Crown.

Now that the Run for the Roses is over it’s time to start looking ahead to the second leg of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes.

Always Dreaming’s primary ownership is comprised of Brooklyn Boyz Stables and Teresa Viola, whose Brooklyn-born husband Vincent owns the NHL’s Florida Panthers. McCracken, 6-1 9. Gormley, 22-1 10. He lost his left eye previous year to inflammation – coincidentally, after he’d already been named.

“It means a lot”, Velasquez told NBC Sports when asked about winning for the first time with his long-time trainer.