Sandman likes the distance, prevails in Arkansas Derby
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE?q=100)
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Give me more ground!
It’s what Sandman’s been crying out for all meet at Oaklawn Park and the longstriding son of Tapit made the most of it Saturday in the Grade 1, $1.5 million Arkansas Derby.
Sandman closed into a rapid-fire pace set by favorite Cornucopian and Speed King, making a four-wide move on the final turn and going on to a 2 1/2-length victory over Publisher. It was another 4 1/2 lengths back in third to Coal Battle.
Sandman put it all together in the richest race of the meet, after some close calls following troubled trips in the first two major 3-year-old preps at Oaklawn, the Southwest and Rebel. He finished a respective second and third in the 1 1/16-mile races that preceded the 1 1/8-mile test of the Arkansas Derby.
“Finally,” trainer Mark Casse said. “He’s a horse we’ve always thought so much of. Finally, things worked in his favor.”
Sandman picked up 100 points for the Kentucky Derby, while Publisher earned 50; Coal Battle, 25; fourth-place finisher Cornucopian, 15; and fifth-place finisher Brereton’s Baytown, who is not nominated to the Triple Crown, 10.
Sandman ($9.40) broke well on Saturday. He settled in the back of the second flight as Cornucopian and Speed King were in a race of their own, dueling through an opening quarter in 22.46 seconds, a half-mile in 45.21, and six furlongs in 1:10.37. He was given a 99 Beyer Speed Figure.
“Obviously, the pace was torrid,” Casse said.
Sandman advanced down the backside, continued on while racing four wide on the final turn, moved to the fore into the stretch, and accelerated. He drifted briefly in the stretch and kept on, finishing the distance on a track that had been upgraded to fast in 1:50.08.
“Today, a mile and an eighth, he’s proved that the two turns is his game,” winning rider Jose Ortiz told the publicity department at Oaklawn. “Very happy, very excited. Kentucky Derby – here we [come].”
Following the race there was a brief stewards’ inquiry into the stretch run. No change was made to the order of finish.
“He was a little shy from the whip from the left hand,” Ortiz told publicity. “I could see that from the replays the last time. I tried one time and didn’t try it again. So, he was rolling.”
Sandman is now 3 for 8 for earnings of $1,254,595. He races for the partnership of D J Stable LLC, St. Elias Stable, West Point Thoroughbreds and C J Stables.
The Arkansas Derby was run before an estimated ontrack crowd of 68,500. The infield was open on an afternoon in which the card opened with a muddy, sealed surface, was upgraded to good, and eventually, fast.
Casse said he liked how Sandman handled the crowd and the atmosphere Saturday. He also liked what Ortiz told him about the horse after his race.
“The most interesting thing of all is Jose said he didn’t take a deep breath,” Casse said of Sandman.
Sandman will head to Churchill Downs in the near future, said Casse, adding that could be Monday. He said he wants the horse to get settled into his new environment well ahead of the Kentucky Derby.
There, Sandman will get even more ground.
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