Bodemeister’s Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Always Dreaming will make his first start since the May 20 Preakness S. (G1) in the $600,000 Jim Dandy S. (G2) Saturday at Saratoga Race Course.
Always Dreaming’s meteoric rise in the first half of the year culminated with his historic Derby victory. After breaking his maiden by a dozen lengths at Tampa Bay Downs in late January, the dark bay colt went on to win an allowance and then the Florida Derby (G1) before taking the Run for the Roses.
The Preakness didn’t go as hoped, so trainer Todd Pletcher decided to regroup and point for a Saratoga campaign.
“Anytime you have the Kentucky Derby winner running, you don’t want to get beat,” Pletcher said. “But it’s something we thought a lot about between the Preakness and now, and we wanted to get here not just with a fresh horse, but a horse hopefully fit enough to run a mile and an eighth.
“It’s always a delicate balance when you’re trying to freshen a horse up, and have him ready for a race like the Jim Dandy. You know you have to be fit and prepared for it, but you also want to hopefully have something to build on, and something left in the tank for the (Grade 1) Travers. I think we’ve been able to accomplish that in the time off after the Preakness.”
The 1 1/8-mile Jim Dandy, for 3-year-olds, drew a field of five, including the Preakness winner Cloud Computing. The rest of the field includes Good Samaritan, a Grade 2 winner on the turf who has yet to start on the dirt, Woody Stephens S. (G2) runner-up Giuseppe the Great, and west coast invader Pavel, who earned a gaudy 97 Beyer Speed Figure in his only race to date.
Always Dreaming drew the rail for Saturday’s 10th race, which runs at 6:18 p.m. ET.
