Kentucky Derby 2017 Video: Replay Highlights, Race Results and Breakdown

An unpredictable buildup to the 2017 Kentucky Derby produced the most predictable result. Odds-on favorite Always Dreaming galloped away from the rest of the pack at Churchill Downs to win the 143rd running of the event in Louisville. 

In a pack of inconsistent horses, it was no surprise that an up-and-down three-year-old came out on top. As ESPN Stats & Info noted, the winner of the biggest race of the year went winless as a two-year-old:

Although the favorite ultimately won for the fifth year in a row, it was a race that had some strong performances from more than one long shot and a disappointment or two from horses who were pegged as contenders.

NBC Sports provided a look at the whole race:

Here are the final results for the whole field followed by a breakdown of some of the best performances, biggest letdowns and a look at the chances that Always Dreaming can keep the streak alive and take the Preakness. 

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

Impressive Performance: Lookin At Lee

Always Dreaming is the one in the headlines. He'll see if he has a date with Triple Crown destiny after winning the Derby, but the best performance relative to the odds might belong to Lookin At Lee. 

The Steve Asmussen horse came up 2 3/4 lengths from pulling off a huge upset over the favorite but created five lengths of separation between himself and the third-place finisher, Battle of Midway. 

That's a pretty good return on investment for a horse that started off the day 22-1, according to OddsShark. 

The payout on the surprise horse was the best of the bunch for his bettors, too:

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
4	14	Classic Empire
5	19	Practical Joke

Now it'll be interesting to see if his connections decide to run the horse at the Preakness. It is a two-week turnaround, but after his run in Louisville, he may be one of the few horses in the field with the ability to keep up with the derby champion. 

If they do choose to trot him out in Baltimore, don't expect to get him at the same bargain price. He's already proved he's worth much better odds than a longshot after getting second from the first post position. 

Biggest Disappointment: Irish War Cry

Picking the favorite to win might seem like an obvious move. The favorite has claimed victory at Churchill Downs in five straight years now.

But Irish War Cry showed that those with the highest odds don't always deliver. The horse came in with some of the best odds to win and a surge of backers on race day, but he finished a disappointing 10th in the 20-horse field. 

Jay Privman of Daily Racing Form noted some trouble out of the gate:

Rafjiv Maragh—Irish War Cry's rider for the race—didn't blame the trip, though. His horse simply ran out of gas. 

"My trip was ideal, what I was hoping for.  He broke well out of the gate and got a good position," Maragh said, per KentuckyDerby.com. "He relaxed beautifully off the pace. Going into the turn, I seemingly had a lot of horse. I was ready to engage the five horse (Always Dreaming), he just kind of quit running on me.”

Mike Watchmaker of Daily Racing Form agreed with the rider's assessment, expressing what a lot of his backers must have felt watching the race:

With a first-place finish at the Wood Memorial last month, it's easy to see why the horse was favored heading into a race against a questionable field. Instead, he turned out to be the prototypical example of the unpredictable nature of this event. 

Preakness Favorite: Always Dreaming

Eclipse Sportswire/Getty Images

As usual, a Derby winner has captured the imagination of horse-racing fans. After impressively defeating the entire field on a wet track by a sound margin, the question about another Triple Crown winner looms large as Always Dreaming heads to Maryland. 

The next stop on the Triple Crown hunt is the middle jewel and the shortest track of the three. 

Fans can expect a much smaller field in the second leg of the prestigious trio. With just two weeks between now and the short race, many owners and trainers will choose to sit out the Preakness in favor of resting for the third and final leg, the Belmont. 

That means Always Dreaming will have fewer obstacles that could mess up what people will be hoping is a clean trip. But it also means the horse will be tested against new challengers the horse hasn't seen yet. 

Always Dreaming demonstrated the versatility needed to win the Triple Crown. He had the speed to set the pace early on and the endurance to outlast the competition. Jockey John Velazquez was quick to praise his horse after the race as well. 

"This is the best horse Todd and I have ever come to the Kentucky Derby with," Velazquez said, per John Cherwa of the Los Angeles Times. "Nothing against all the others, but this was the best horse. I got a good position early and then he relaxed. When we hit the quarter pole, I asked him and he responded. He did it himself from there."

A win at the Preakness where track conditions are likely to be different and he'll face more competition from unimpeded horses will be a better test as to just how special this horse is, but his chances of winning the next leg are good if his run at the Derby is any indication.