2025.02.28 Oaklawn Racing Updates

Racing Press Release
Compiled by Robert Yates

Friday, Feb. 28, 2025

Sandman will continue his chase for Kentucky Derby qualifying points at Oaklawn in the $1.5 million Arkansas Derby (G1) March 29, his dual Hall of Fame trainer, Mark Casse, said Friday morning.

The 1 1/8-mile Arkansas Derby is Oaklawn’s fourth and final Kentucky Derby qualifying race. It will offer 200 total points (100-50-25-15-10, respectively) to the top five finishers toward starting eligibility for the Kentucky Derby, which is limited to 20 starters.

Although Oaklawn-based Sandman ranks sixth on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 29 points, he’s still searching for his first career stakes victory. Sandman collected 15 points for a third-place finish in the $1.25 million Rebel Stakes (G2) at 1 1/16 miles Sunday at Oaklawn. Sandman, the 5-2 favorite, was beaten 1 ¾ lengths by Coal Battle.

“I thought he ran really well, actually, exceptionally well,” Casse said of Sandman. “It helped to be up close. The winner was impressive. The move he made at the (three-eighths pole) was impressive. He’s a good horse.”

Sandman broke well, but Casse said the Tapit colt lost important momentum going into the first turn and was too far off a hot pace. Madaket Road, the tearaway leader, finished second, one half-length ahead of Sandman, who closed well in deep stretch after racing ninth early under Cristian Torres.

“In my opinion, we lost the race, probably, in the first hundred yards,” Casse said. “We got stuck behind (Kenny) McPeek’s horse (Hypnus) and made us farther back. We were hoping to be five or six lengths back. Instead, we were 15. I think it was a great effort to only get beat a couple of lengths.”

The Rebel was Sandman’s fourth stakes start.

Sandman ran fifth in the one-mile, $300,000 Iroquois (G3) Sept. 14 at Churchill Downs, third in the 8 ½-furlong $200,000 Street Sense (G3) Oct. 27 at Churchill Downs and second, beaten a length, in the $1 million Southwest (G3) Jan. 25. The Southwest was Oaklawn’s second Kentucky Derby qualifying race.

The Arkansas Derby will be Sandman’s first start at 1 1/8 miles.

“Hopefully, the track won’t be quite as speed biased,” Casse said. “We get an extra sixteenth of a mile. Definitely, the farther the better. We’re excited. We just want to get a good effort out of him and then, hopefully, on to Kentucky.”

Next-race plans are pending for Coal Battle and Madaket Road, their respective trainers, Lonnie Briley and Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, said earlier in the week.

Finish Lines

Trainer Cipriano Contreras enters Friday with 99 career Oaklawn victories. Contreras has four horses entered this weekend at Oaklawn, including two Friday. … Two-time reigning Oaklawn riding champion Cristian Torres ($3,077,171) became the first jockey at the 2024-2025 meeting to surpass $3 million in purse earnings, reaching the milestone Monday. Torres set Oaklawn’s single-season record for purse earnings by a jockey ($6,181,368) in 2023-2024. He also has a meet-high 36 victories this season. … “Oaklawn Raceday,” featuring hosts Justin Acri and David Longinotti, director of Oaklawn Anywhere, and Equibase representative Jeff Taylor, can be heard Saturdays 11 a.m.-11:30 a.m. (Central) during the 2024-2025 meeting on Little Rock, Ark., radio station KABZ-FM 103.7 and www.1037thebuzz.com. This week’s special guest is Lonnie Briley, trainer of multiple Oaklawn stakes winner and Kentucky Derby candidate Coal Battle.