Always Dreaming (foaled February 25, 2014) is a retird American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2017 Kentucky Derby and Florida Derby. He had four wins from eleven starts, and earnings of $2,415,860.
Background
Always Dreaming is a dark bay colt who was bred in Kentucky by Santa Rosa Partners (Gerry Dilger and Mike Ryan). He is from the first crop of foals sired by Bodemeister, the runner-up in both the 2012 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. The dam of Always Dreaming, Above Perfection, was an exceptional sprinter who won the Las Flores Handicap in 2002. Above Perfection's earlier foals include Grade I winner Hot Dixie Chick. Although both Bodemeister and Above Perfection were known for their speed, there are multiple stamina influences further back in the pedigree.
Always Dreaming was sold at the Keeneland September 2015 Yearling Sale for $350,000. He was bought by Anthony Bonomo's Brooklyn Boyz Stables and his wife Mary Ellen's MeB Stables. "My son (Anthony Jr.) was doing the bidding. I was working. I gave him the budget and thank God he went over it," said Bonomo. "I could tell you that two years ago, on the day we bought the horse, I was really upset. You flash forward two years and I can't kiss him enough. He has a keen eye."
In the summer of 2016, Bonomo and Vincent Viola, both long-time racing fans from Brooklyn, decided to join forces, a move that affected the ownership of Always Dreaming. Viola owns St. Elias Stable and his wife is the owner of Teresa Viola Racing Stable. "I'm a couple of years older (than Bonomo), but we played baseball together and, you know each other from the neighborhood," said Viola before the 2017 Kentucky Derby. "When I got back into the Thoroughbreds, I called Anthony. We were doing the same thing separately, so we decided to do it together, and that's exactly what you see here."
In early 2017, the Bonomos and Violas sold a minority interest in Always Dreaming to West Point Thoroughbreds and Siena Farm.
Originally trained by Dominick Schettino, Always Dreaming was transferred to the barn of Todd Pletcher in September 2016.
Racing career
2016: two-year-old season
Always Dreaming raced twice at age two, finishing third in his debut on July 1, 2016, at Belmont Park and second in his next start at Saratoga on August 20.
In September, Always Dreaming was transferred to the barn of Todd Pletcher, who decided the colt would benefit from some time off. When Always Dreaming returned to training, Pletcher could see an improvement. "We could see right away," he said, "as soon as we were breezing him, that he had extra special talent."
2017: three-year-old season
Always Dreaming made his three-year-old debut on January 25, 2017, at Tampa Bay Downs as the 1-5 favorite in a maiden special weight race. Pletcher chose the race from among several other maiden races being run on that date based on the distance of miles, feeling 7 furlongs was too short for the colt but miles would be too long after such a long layoff. Pletcher also felt lucky to secure the services of jockey John Velazquez, with whom he had a long-term association, for the ride. Always Dreaming raced just off the early pace then drew away from the field to win by lengths.
His next start was on March 4 in an Allowance Optional Claiming race at Gulfstream Park over a distance of miles. Pletcher chose this race rather than the Fountain of Youth Stakes held on the same day as part of a plan to keep the colt from peaking too early in the Derby prep season. Starting at odds of 1–10, Always Dreaming set an "almost unbelievably slow pace", then pulled away to win by four lengths.
The lightly raced colt then stepped up to face Grade I company in the Florida Derby on April 1 at Gulfstream. He was the second betting choice at nearly 3-1 behind Kentucky Derby hopeful Gunnevera. Always Dreaming vied for the early lead with Three Rules and State of Honor, then settled into second place down the backstretch. Rounding into the stretch, Always Dreaming kicked away from the rest of the field and won by 5 lengths. His time for the distance of miles was 1:47.47.