HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Jockey Cristian Torres has one primary objective with Sandman when the pair starts from post 3 on Sunday in the Grade 2, $1.25 million Rebel at Oaklawn Park. The Rebel was rescheduled from Saturday due to a winter storm system in the Hot Springs area. “The main thing we’re looking for this race is to have a better break,” he said last week. Sandman had an awkward start in last month’s Grade 3, $1 million Southwest at Oaklawn, spotting the field several lengths before putting in a long, sustained run for second. Sandman lost his footing at the break, then lunged toward the inside as Torres was headed the opposite direction, with just his right foot remaining in the stirrup. The start was so off-kilter that trainer Mark Casse said he was amazed Torres was able to remain aboard Sandman. So was Torres. “After that, I was joking with my family, saying my little toe saved me,” the rider quipped.  :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Sandman is part of a field of 14 for the 1 1/16-mile Rebel, which is a qualifying race for the Kentucky Derby. Speed King, who won the Southwest by a length, is back for the Rebel, and Coal Battle, the winner of the Smarty Jones at Oaklawn, also is part of the field Sunday. Meanwhile, Madaket Road will attempt to give Southern California-based trainer Bob Baffert a ninth win in the Rebel and is joined by a fellow West Coast invader in Grade 3 winner Bullard. The complete Rebel field from the rail with riders is: Coal Battle, Juan Vargas; Admiral Dennis, Florent Geroux; Sandman, Torres; Hypnus, Brian Hernandez Jr.; Madaket Road, Irad Ortiz Jr.; Publisher, Flavien Prat; Dreaminblue, Francisco Arrieta; Innovator, Tyler Bacon; Smoken Wicked, Tyler Gaffalione; Bullard, Umberto Rispoli; Speed King, Rafael Bejarano; Brereton’s Baytown, Joseph Bealmear; Tiztastic, Jose Ortiz; and Hot Gunner, Harry Hernandez. The first five finishers will earn Kentucky Derby points on a scale of 50-25-15-10-5. The Rebel will go as the 11th race on a 12-race card that has a special first post of 12 p.m. Central. Other major races on the program include the Grade 3, $500,000 Honeybee – a Kentucky Oaks qualifier that drew 13 – and the Grade 3, $500,000 Razorback Handicap that drew 14. Torres, a 27-year-old native of Puerto Rico, has teamed with Sandman in his last two starts. The pair won a first-level allowance by 1 3/4 lengths Dec. 13. “As soon as he got here to Oaklawn, when he ran in that allowance race going a mile, he showed us that now he’s improving,” Torres said. “He broke good that day and I was just sitting behind the pace. At the half-mile pole, they kind of picked it up and they opened up, like three or four lengths from me, and I asked him and he went through [along] the rail. Then I took him out and he kept running.” Sandman advanced to the 1 1/16-mile Southwest, but he found himself at a distinct disadvantage right from the start in the Jan. 25 race.  “He was standing good,” Torres said. “He got in there and he didn’t move at all. I was really happy with that, but he just stumbled out of there and I was lucky I stayed on the way he stumbled. That was the week after the snow and the freezing temperatures, and I think the track was still a little bit frozen underneath because there were a lot of horses stumbling out of the gate. That’s the only thing that comes to my mind. “The first jump, he kind of lost his footing in front and then behind. When he lost it behind, that’s why he went sideways. After that start, I just let him do his thing the first part of the race and get into the race by himself.” Through the stretch, Sandman was eating up ground. For his effort, he earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 92.  “The way he moves, he strides out very, very big,” Torres said. “Even in the morning when I work him, I cannot do much on him because he’ll pick it up really fast and his strides are really big. So I’ve got to be easy when I work him.” Torres is the current leading rider at Oaklawn, where he has won the last two titles. He won last year’s Rebel aboard Timberlake and was second the year before with Red Route One. Torres had won 33 races from 218 mounts this meet through Saturday, and those mounts have earned $2.7 million. “We’ve been having a really nice meet,” Torres said. “We’re riding for everyone, like to keep everyone happy. Everything’s going well and hopefully we can keep it up.” All he needs is a break. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.