Enter Sandman: Popular gray will be entered in Preakness

Sandman, who finished seventh in the Kentucky Derby following a troubled trip, will be entered in Preakness 2025 at Pimlico, Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse said Saturday. Casse trains Sandman for the partnership of D J Stable, St. Elias Stable, West Point Thoroughbreds and CJ Stables.

“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,” Casse said. “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.”

He saddled War of Will for a Preakness triumph in 2019. War of Will is the most recent horse to go from a Kentucky Derby start to a Preakness win.

Sandman dropped far back after bumping with a rival shortly after leaving the starting gate in the Derby before rallying nine-wide to check in seventh.

“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,” Casse said. “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.”

Sandman entered the Derby coming off a dominating 2 1/2-length triumph in the March 29 Arkansas Derby (G1) at Oaklawn Park. The son of Tapit, who had previously finished second in the Southwest (G3) and third in the Rebel (G2) at Oaklawn, finished third behind Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty in the Street Sense (G3) at Churchill Downs in the fall.

Sandman’s jockey in the Preakness was undetermined Saturday. Sandman is scheduled to ship to Pimlico on Monday.