Congratulations are in order for Always Dreaming, who thundered through the mud to win the Kentucky Derby by nearly three lengths. What a win for the Brooklyn Boyz, for whom we were rooting. They are the owners of Always Dreaming, along with a group that includes West Point Thoroughbreds (which is not affiliated with the United States Military Academy but whose president, Terry Finley, earned his commission at the Academy and was an officer of artillery).

We would never want to suggest we’re an expert on the nags, but the thing that startles us about Always Dreaming — aside from what a sleek profile the dark bay colt presents (the Times tops its story with a fabulous photo at the finish line at Churchill Downs) — is how many times his pedigree includes Northern Dancer. That legendary steed was the first Canadian to win the Derby and went on to become one of the great stud horses in history.

Talk about bound for glory. The presence of Northern Dancer in Always Dreaming’s pedigree is astonishing. He is there twice five generations back and once four generations back. The way Wikipedia phrases it is that he’s inbred 5 x 5 x 4. Inbreeding in respect of thoroughbred breeding is not uncommon and its power debated. Nonetheless, Maclean’s magazine reckons that all 20 horses in the Kentucky Derby in 2014 had Northern Dancer in their pedigree.

We mention all this not to lay everything to mere destiny. Or to take anything away from the achievement of everyone involved in Always Dreaming’s victory. It’s rather but to savor what a remarkable being has just thundered into history. We will see what happens at the Preakness May 20 and, maybe, the Belmont. The last winner of the Triple Crown, American Pharoah, was also a 5 x 5 descendant of — you guessed it — Northern Dancer.