Always Dreaming, Cloud Computing start second season in Jim Dandy

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The Eclipse Award in the 3-year-old male division won’t be decided this weekend. But a pecking order for the latter part of the year most certainly will be established when Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming and Preakness winner Cloud Computing launch the second half of their campaigns in Saturday’s Grade 2, $600,000 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga.

Always Dreaming would have to be considered the division leader with victories in the Florida Derby and Kentucky Derby. Cloud Computing beat Always Dreaming in the Preakness – the only time they have met – but has only one stakes win.

This marks the first time that a Kentucky Derby winner and a Preakness winner have met in the Jim Dandy. Street Sense (2007) is the last Derby winner to run in the Jim Dandy. Bernardini (2006) is the last Preakness winner to run in this race. Both of those horses not only won the Jim Dandy but came back later in the meet to win the Grade 1 Travers.

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The Travers, worth $1.25 million and run Aug. 26, is the ultimate meet objective for Always Dreaming and Cloud Computing. Their trainers are walking the fine line of having their horses fit enough to perform well Saturday while still able to move forward for the Travers.

“Obviously, the big goal is the Travers, and we’re just trying to get there, but we’re not leading him over there just to give him a race either,” said Chad Brown, the trainer of Cloud Computing. “I’m expecting the horse to run well enough to win. I’m hopeful he can do that, and I’m hopeful he can come out of the race and have enough left to build on that and work toward the Travers.”

Todd Pletcher, the trainer of Always Dreaming, said: “You certainly don’t want the Derby winner to lose if you can keep from it. You also have other goals ahead of that.”

Pletcher freshened Always Dreaming following his eighth-place finish in the Preakness. He has given him just four workouts, all since July 1, and he hopes that is enough to have him ready to go.

“I think we’ve accomplished what we wanted to in terms of putting some weight back on him and some energy back into him and hopefully have him fit enough to perform well while still having bigger goals down the road,” Pletcher said.

Always Dreaming will break from the rail under John Velazquez, while Cloud Computing breaks from post 2 under Javier Castellano. Both carry 123 pounds, spotting six pounds to the other three horses in the field.

Always Dreaming won the Florida Derby and Kentucky Derby from a stalking position. He likely will be following Pavel in the 1 1/8-mile Jim Dandy. Pavel, a son of Creative Cause trained by Doug O’Neill, is making just his second start, having won a six-furlong maiden race at Santa Anita on July 1.

“He’s always been better having a target,” Velazquez said of Always Dreaming. “Let him break out of there, get a position wherever he’s comfortable.”

In the Preakness, Cloud Computing sat third behind Always Dreaming and Classic Empire before tackling Classic Empire inside the final furlong.

“This horse is very capable of laying close if the pace is moderate,” Brown said. “He has good positional speed, and I’m hopeful that he can track Always Dreaming in close range throughout the race.”

Giuseppe the Great, second in the Grade 2 Woody Stephens two starts back, will attempt two turns for the first time. Good Samaritan, a Grade 2 stakes winner on turf, will try dirt for the first time.

The Jim Dandy and Bowling Green, two of the four stakes on the card, will be shown live on Fox Sports 2 from 5-6:30 p.m. Eastern. MSG Plus and other regional cable networks also will show the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt during a 2 1/2-hour show beginning at 4 p.m.

KEY CONTENDERS

Always Dreaming, by Bodemeister

Last 3 Beyers: 82-102-97

◗ Velazquez believes the Derby took more of a toll on Always Dreaming than he and Pletcher originally thought. He finished 14 lengths behind Cloud Computing in the Preakness.

“He won easy, galloped out strong,” Velazquez said of Always Dreaming’s Kentucky Derby win. “We thought he hadn’t had such a hard race, but obviously he did, and it showed in the next race.”

◗ Finished second, beaten a neck, in his only start at Saratoga.

Cloud Computing, by Maclean’s Music

Last 3 Beyers: 102-90-96

◗ Benefited from a perfect trip in the Preakness but showed guts in outfinishing the 2-year-old champion Classic Empire.

◗ Shows six workouts since he resumed training about a month after the Preakness.

“We eased him back to work, but it was important to maintain what we had for a lightly raced horse,” Brown said. “I feel he’s fit enough and strong enough to run his ‘A’ race Saturday. Like Always Dreaming and others with an eye toward the Travers, you’re looking not to knock him out either.”