It has been a whirlwind spring for Arkansas Derby winner Sandman and his connections, and there’s optimism {that a} memorable Triple Crown season can function a springboard to sustained success within the second half of the 12 months.
The three-year-old colt by main sire Tapit will likely be pointed to the $500,000 Jim Dandy Stakes Offered by Mohegan Solar July 26 at Saratoga Race Course for his subsequent begin, a doable rematch with Kentucky Derby Offered by Woodford Reserve winner Sovereignty.
Sovereignty, after all, adopted his 1 ½-length win the Kentucky Derby with a three-length win over Journalism within the Belmont Stakes Offered by NYRA Bets June 7, with Derby third-place finisher Baeza once more operating third.
Sandman was a fast-finishing third behind Journalism within the Preakness Stakes for U.S. and Canadian Corridor of Fame coach Mark Casse after rallying for seventh within the Kentucky Derby.
“Our hope is given a while off and possibly rising up a bit bit, he can run with these high two, however he nonetheless has to show that,” Casse stated referencing Sovereignty and Journalism. “He’s an excellent horse. These horses are exceptionally good, and we have to transfer into that class if we’re going to be aggressive with these guys.
“He’s going to must run the race of his life to compete with Sovereignty and Journalism, however the remaining I really feel like he can deal with.”
Sandman bought again to enterprise on June 8 in preparation for the second half of the 12 months. He breezed a half-mile in :50.90 at Saratoga in his first timed exercise because the Preakness.
“We labored him with some blinkers the opposite day. They do make him a bit extra aggressive, possibly targeted a bit extra,” Casse stated. “I haven’t determined 100% but if I’m going to run him in them, however we’ll see.
“I’d like him to fill in a bit bit to his body however he’s by no means going to be some large, sturdy horse That’s not how he’s made. That’s not Tapit,” Casse added in reference to Sandman’s sire.
Casse has favored what he’s seen on the event path with Sandman from his 2-year-old season to early spring and proper by the Triple Crown.
“He grew lots from when he was a 2-year-old to three. He’s very tall, he’s virtually 17 palms tall. We went proper by the wintertime as a result of I felt like he wanted extra racing,” Casse stated.
Sandman gained two of 5 begins as a 2-year-old and ran third within the Road Sense Stakes as he began to place issues collectively, capping the season Dec. 13 with a 1 ¾-length win at Oaklawn Park.
He spent the winter at Oaklawn and continued to mature into an elite Kentucky Derby prospect, overcoming a brutal begin to end second within the $1 million Southwest Stakes earlier than operating third within the $1.25 million Insurgent Stakes.
Sandman’s breakout race was a 2 ½-length victory within the $1.5 million Arkansas Derby March 29 that despatched him to the Kentucky Derby because the second favourite within the 19-horse subject.
“I’m very pleased with him,” stated Casse, who trains Sandman for the partnership of D. J. Secure, St. Elias Secure, West Level Thoroughbreds, and CJ Stables. “Look, with a bit luck he most likely wins the Southwest. Within the Insurgent, pace was taking part in fairly good that day and sadly, we bought shuffled again a bit bit early on and we have been lots farther again than we wished to be. Then, he bought stopped on the five-sixteenths pole, so I assumed he ran very well. Clearly, he gained Arkansas Derby impressively. The one time he actually hasn’t proven up was the Kentucky Derby.”
Sandman handed 11 horses within the Kentucky Derby to complete seventh on a sealed, sloppy monitor Could 3 at Churchill Downs. Casse stated the kickback of the mud within the 19-horse subject introduced a problematic variable for a deep nearer like Sandman.
“Generally it’s not even simply in regards to the floor. It’s one factor once you run in a six- or seven-horse subject and also you get kickback from six or seven horses. It’s one other factor once you get kickback from 18 of them,” Casse defined. “He was given an expertise he by no means had earlier than, and I imagine he simply didn’t run his race.
“Some prefer it, some don’t. He didn’t, however I assumed he got here again and gave us an ideal efficiency within the Preakness. So, I’m very pleased with him.”
Casse, 64, has skilled U.S. and Canadian champions and traditional winners amongst an extended record of secure stars which have handed by his barn since his first starter in 1979. Worldwide star filly Tepin, a two-time champion inducted into the Racing Corridor of Fame in 2022, is the one racehorse to return near matching Sandman’s recognition.
Casse credited a number of elements for Sandman’s ascension to one of many sport’s most beloved Thoroughbreds. Influencer Griffin Johnson, a minority proprietor in Sandman by West Level Thoroughbreds and the “A Stake in Stardom” program, launched an entire new, youthful viewers to the game and the horse. Sandman additionally occurs to be named after probably the most iconic rock/heavy steel songs in historical past, “Enter Sandman,” by Metallica, and it certainly helped that the band took a eager curiosity within the horse main as much as the Kentucky Derby. Sandman additionally occurs to be fairly particular himself.
“He’s a fantastic, lovely horse. He stands out – he’s a great-moving horse. He has an exquisite persona, which brings numerous new those that have come to like him,” Casse stated. “I get letters, I get emails, I lately answered a younger girl who simply graduated from highschool who stated she had an image of Sandman on her cap as a result of she simply loves him a lot. That provides a bit strain, I really feel like. Sandman is so beloved that I need to ensure when he does compete that he does the perfect he can for all of the followers … and he has plenty of followers.”
