Arkansas Derby Champ Sandman Enters Preakness Fray

[Wandering Eyes]

The winner of the GI Arkansas Derby and seventh place finisher in the GI Kentucky Derby, Sandman (Tapit–Distorted Music, by Distorted Humor) will enter next Saturday's GI Preakness Stakes at Pimlico, according to a press release sent out by 1S/T Racing.

Co-owned by D. J. Stable LLC, St. Elias Stable, West Point Thoroughbreds, CJ Stables and influencer Griffin Johnson, the 3-year-old has remained at Churchill Downs where he took a spin over the main track on Friday.

“We wanted to see how he came back. He's an extremely happy horse right now. It looks like the race might set up nice for him. It looks like there's a fair amount of speed,” said trainer Mark Casse, who saddled eventual victor War of Will in 2019. “I always quote Allen Jerkens, 'Run 'em when they're good,' and he's good right now. We were planning on waiting for the Belmont, but a lot of things can happen in between. He's telling us he's happy so we're going to go with it.”

Casse continued, “I knew when he went by us the first time that we were in big trouble. He obviously wasn't handling the track very well, and you just don't know how that affects them late in the race. He made a middle run but did flatten out a little bit. I think War of Will ran seventh in the Derby and won the Preakness, so we're going with that.”

The grey, who was pointing to the GI Belmont Stakes, joins 'TDN Rising Star' Goal Oriented (Not This Time) who was also confirmed for the barrier this week. A jockey has yet to be announced and Sandman is scheduled to ship to Pimlico Monday.

The Preakness draw is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET on Monday, May 12.

 

Sandman back galloping this morning, looking ahead to the Belmont Stakes! pic.twitter.com/YnkcO2Sgdj

— West Point Tbred (@westpointtbred) May 9, 2025

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