Always Dreaming (Bodemeister), a jaw-dropping winner of the GI Xpressbet.com Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park Apr. 1 and currently ranked at #1 on TDN's Top Kentucky Dery Contenders, returned to the worktab Friday with a four-furlong move in :49.55 (5/14) at trainer Todd Pletcher's Palm Beach Downs base.
Under regular rider John Velazquez, Always Dreaming worked outside of last out GIII Appleton S. winner All Included (Include) at approximately 6:50 a.m.
“I thought he settled well considering the first part was a little on the slow side. He finished up strongly, galloped out impressively,” Pletcher said. “Based from what we were seeing in the morning the track is not super-fast. The longer you're here the more you kind of get used to this track. It's a little bit quirky in some ways, in it can be a little inside bias, sometimes not produce real fast times. But we like it a lot. Knock on wood, it's been a very safe surface for us. It seems like a lot of horses thrive through the winter here.”
Pletcher continued, “[Always Dreaming] is one of the exceptions in terms of horses who consistently win breezes whether he's on the inside or outside of horses. It was, I thought, a very good breeze. I liked the way he finished the last quarter in :23-and-change and seemed to cool out quickly and recover quickly.”
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