Previous studies have concluded that breath intake patterns during speech emerge as a function of planning processes. Little work has tested for similar effects of respiratory recovery on these patterns. Moreover, previous work has relied on one-by-one elicitation of read sentences which incorporates a direct cue to upcoming length, allowing for anticipatory effects to emerge but prohibiting a test of preceding material on intakes. The current study investigated the relative influences of recovery and anticipatory factors on breath intakes in a connected speech task that better approximates spontaneous production. Participants (N = 6) were asked to recite a passage of 20 unrelated sentences from memory. Results revealed a significant effect of preceding utterance length on presence of breath intakes during pauses, but not of following utterance length. It is concluded that respiratory recovery drives breath intakes in connected speech.