Kentucky Derby 2017: Video Highlights, Payouts and Churchill Downs Results

Always Dreaming lived up to expectations as a co-favorite with his win at the 2017 Kentucky Derby.

Jockey John Velazquez kept his horse near the front of the pack most of the race before making his move on the final stretch, pulling away for the impressive victory.

NBC Sports provided video of the win:

Per KentuckyDerby.com, Always Dreaming and Irish War Cry were the co-favorites at 9-2, with the eventual winner receiving the most money in wagers. This was a major shift from the morning line, which featured Classic Empire as the favorite before dropping significantly by race time.

However, the bettors clearly knew what they were doing as Always Dreaming came away with the victory:

Position	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	Lengths
1	Always Dreaming	John R. Velazquez	Todd A. Pletcher	-
2	Lookin At Lee	Corey Lanerie	Steven M. Asmussen	2 3/4
3	Battle of Midway	Flavien Prat	Jerry Hollendorfer	7 3/4
4	Classic Empire	Julien R. Leparoux	Mark E. Casse	8 3/4
5	Practical Joke	Joel Rosario	Chad C. Brown	9 1/2
6	Tapwrit	Jose L. Ortiz	Todd A. Pletcher	10 1/4
7	Gunnevera	Javier Castellano	Antonio Sano	13 1/4
8	McCraken	Brian Joseph Hernandez Jr.	Ian R. Wilkes	13 1/4
9	Gormley	Victor Espinoza	John A. Shirreffs	14 1/4
10	Irish War Cry	Rajiv Maragh	H. Graham Motion	16 1/2
11	Hence	Florent Geroux	Steven M. Asmussen	18 1/2
12	Untrapped	Ricardo Santana Jr.	Steven M. Asmussen	19 1/4
13	Girvin	Mike E. Smith	Joe Sharp	19 1/4
14	Patch	Tyler Gaffalione	Todd A. Pletcher	20 3/4
15	J Boys Echo	Robby Albarado	Dale L. Romans	22 3/4
16	Sonneteer	J. Keith Desormeaux	Kent J. Desormeaux	26
17	Fast And Accurate	Channing Hill	Michael J. Maker	28 1/2
18	Irap	Mario Gutierrez	Doug F. O'Neill	40 1/2
19	State of Honor	Jose Lezcano	Mark E. Casse	45 1/2
20	Thunder Snow	Christophe Soumillon	Saeed bin Suroor	DNF

Although the first-place finish didn't lead to much of a payout, those who took a chance on Lookin At Lee and Battle of Midway won big thanks to their long odds.

Here is a breakdown of payouts from the top three spots:

Pos.	Post	Horse	Win	Place	Show
1	5	Always Dreaming	$11.40	$7.20	$5.80
2	1	Lookin At Lee		$26.60	$15.20
3	11	Battle of Midway			$20.80
			$2 Exacta (5-1)	$1 Trifecta (5-1-11)	$1 Superfecta (5-1-11-14)
			$336.20	$8,297.20	$75,974.50

Lookin At Lee provided a serious threat for the win in the final few furlongs, with jockey Corey Lanerie leading him on a late charge. With zero wins in his last six races, this would have been a major upset. With that said, this was still a solid day for Lanerie, who also won the Pat Day Mile Stakes earlier in the day.

Battle of Midway also ended up in the top three after holding his position on the straightaway despite tough late challenges.

Those closing runs came from Classic Empire and Irish War Cry, two top contenders who appeared ready to make their move toward the podium. However, they each failed to keep up and finished outside the money.

Always Dreaming proved it was the best horse in a loaded field now with four straight wins in 2017. Darren Rovell of ESPN noted the result for the owners:

Trainer Todd Pletcher was also a big part of the success, earning his second career Kentucky Derby victory.

"Everything went exactly as we planned when we were training him," the trainer said after the race, per Lane Gold of ESPN.

The 49-year-old also helped Tapwrit to a sixth-place finish and Patch to 14th, but Always Dreaming now gives him seven top-three finishes at the Kentucky Derby.

While the question now is whether Always Dreaming has what it takes to contend for a Triple Crown, it would be a mistake to rule him out after his recent run of success.

The next leg will be the Preakness Stakes, set for May 20 in Baltimore.