A horse is a horse, of course, of course. That is, of course, unless the horse is the famous Always Dreaming – the horse race odds-on favorite to win the 2017 Preakness Stakes this Saturday. No one can talk to a horse of course, but if you go right to the source and ask the horse, he’ll give you the answer that you’ll endorse. He’s always on a steady course to win the Second Jewel of the Triple Crown. The Todd Pletcher-trained colt won the Kentucky Derby as the online horse race gambling favorite, following in the hoof steps of California Chrome in 2014, American Pharoah in 2015, and Nyquist in 2016.
Always Dreaming
Always Dreaming could also become the 35th Run of the Roses winner to go on to win the Preakness Stakes since first ever Triple Crown winner Sir Barton did in 1919 – as well as the 11th in the past 20 years. The Bodemeister colt will meet such familiar faces as second online horse race gambling favorite Classic Empire, Lookin at Lee, Gunnevera, and Lookin at Lee, as well as several shooters like Conquest Mo Money, Wood Memorial, Cloud Computing, Multiplier, Senior Investment, and Term of Art. Mo Money is the shortest price among the shooters, per the horse race odds.
Pletcher
According to Pletcher, “Aside from deciding to jog him one day instead of gallop, which turned out to be fine, literally everything has gone exactly the way we kind of mapped it out.” The seven-time Eclipse Award winner added that “we got the quiet environment that we were looking for here. He’s settled in really well. Each gallop day has gotten progressively better. He’s showing us everything we hoped he would show us. He keeps checking off those boxes that we’re looking for.” That pretty much answers every possible question except, when he checks off those boxes, does he hold the pen in his mouth? One would think it would be hard to grab it with a single toe.
Pimlico Race Course
Pletcher shipped Always Dreaming to the quiet stakes barn at Pimlico Race Course three days after his Kentucky victory to allow him to settle in and relax. However, the arrival of several horses this morning may have put Always Dreaming on his toes – sorry, on his toe – enough to show a seldom seen aggressive aside. The week before the Derby Pletcher changed exercise riders to Nick Bush, and added draw reins – which force the horse to keep his head down so the rider can control him more easily – to the equipment.
Preakness Stakes
So maybe that was just the colt psyching himself up for the Preakness Stakes. Or maybe he was ticked off that LA Times sports editor John Cherwa wrote that “he doesn’t have the “freak of nature” look” of a Triple Crown winner like American Pharoah, or Scott Steiner. Horse race odds appear to be against there being a Triple Crown champeen this year, but Always Dreaming remains the horse race odds-on favorite to win the Run for the Black-Eyes Susans nonetheless.