LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — It was a sloppy track at Churchill Downs, but a beautiful sight for trainer Todd Pletcher.
Always Dreaming successfully navigated the mud in capturing the Kentucky Derby by 2 ¾ lengths. Sent off at 9-2 odds, the Pletcher-trained horse made it the fifth straight year that a Derby favorite has won, the longest such stretch since the 1970s.
Always Dreaming ran 1 ¼ miles in 2:03.59 with John Velazquez aboard. The win paid $11.40, $7.20 and $5.80.
Lookin At Lee finished second and returned $26.60 and $18.20 after going off at 33-1. Battle of Midway went off at 40-1 and paid $20.80 to show after finishing five lengths back.
It’s the second Kentucky Derby victory for both Pletcher and Velazquez, and their first together.
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