Kentucky Derby: Sandman, Publisher ship to Churchill

Sandman and Publisher, 1-2, respectively, in the Arkansas Derby, were scheduled to ship Monday to Churchill Downs to begin preparations for Kentucky Derby 2025, their trainers said Sunday morning, but third-place finisher Coal Battle will stick around a little longer before joining them.

Sandman cemented his status as a top Kentucky Derby contender with a 2 1/2-length victory in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby before an estimated crowd of 68,500 Saturday afternoon at Oaklawn.

A late-running gray son of super sire Tapit, Sandman took advantage of a pace meltdown to record his first career stakes victory and vault to the top of the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 129 points. The Kentucky Derby is limited to 20 starters.

Sandman, reunited with jockey Jose Ortiz, was assigned a preliminary Beyer Speed Figure of 99 from Daily Racing Form, a career high, in his first start at 1 1/8 miles. That's a distance Mark Casse, the colt’s dual Hall of Fame trainer, said he would relish.

“Jose and I talked about it before the race,” Casse said. “Again, we thought as the day was going on, if you watched the races, speed was holding pretty good in a few prior races. But we both talked about it and said, ‘Look, we don’t care what happens. We’re going to let him get into his stride and go from there.’ Never did we dream that we would get a pace scenario like we got. Jose told me he thought he was a winner down the middle of the backside.”

Sandman was seventh after a half-mile, trailing tearaway leaders Cornucopian and Speed King by 13 1/2 lengths. Cornucopian, the 4-5 favorite, and Speed King dueled through brutally fast fractions of 22.46 seconds for the opening quarter, 45.21 for a half-mile and 1:10.37 for six furlongs before backpedaling late on the second turn.

Coal Battle, who nine lengths behind after a half-mile, was closest to the tiring front-runners, but the biggest beneficiaries were Sandman and Publisher, who was last early. Both horses began accelerating past rivals near the three-eighths pole, eventually collaring Coal Battle on the outside in the stretch.

Sandman struck the front in the upper stretch and never was seriously challenged late by Publisher, a now-seven-race maiden who was racing in blinkers for the first time. The winning time over a fast track was 1:50.08.

Casse had tapped Oritz to ride Sandman in the Arkansas Derby after he finished a troubled second to Speed King in the $1 million Southwest Stakes (G3) on Jan. 25 and third as the favorite behind Coal Battle in the Rebel Stakes (G2) on Feb. 23. Both 1 1/16-mile races were at Oaklawn.

“I felt like the pace was very fast,” Ortiz said Sunday morning. “I was in range of Coal Battle, and I felt like the last race that Sandman was the one really closing the last sixteenth. I thought yesterday, with the added distance, it would help. I wanted to follow Coal Battle and I did. The main thing was keeping him out of trouble.”

Casse, who won the 2017 Arkansas Derby with champion Classic Empire, trains Sandman for D. J. Stable, St. Elias Stable, West Point Thoroughbreds and CJ Stables. Sandman was purchased for $1.2 million at the OBS March sale of 2-year-olds in training.

Publisher secured a Kentucky Derby spot Saturday, collecting 50 points for his runner-up finish. He has 60 points overall to rank 10th on the leaderboard. Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen trains Publisher, a son of 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, for Gus King and the estate of Brereton Jones. Publisher competed in Oaklawn’s final three Kentucky Derby qualifying races, finishing a troubled sixth in the Southwest and fourth in the Rebel.

“Just see how we do in Kentucky, but no reason not to go forward,” Asmussen said. “I think you get gathered up at Churchill and re-evaluate everybody.”

Asmussen said he was particularly pleased how Publisher, a $600,000 yearling purchase, handled the zoo-like Arkansas Derby atmosphere, including the indoor paddock and parading in the infield before the race.

“I think the Arkansas Derby is a wonderful prep for that scenario,” Asmussen said. “The infield, with 68,000 people, I definitely know that Publisher’s got a beautiful temperament for a race of that size. That’s not going to throw him off whatsoever. He stepped up and ran a 95 Beyer (Saturda). He’s on the cusp of it, but we’ve got to find more.”

After taking a short lead near the quarter pole, Coal Battle was beaten by seven lengths in the Arkansas Derby. It was his first loss in six career dirt starts, a winning streak that included the Smarty Jones Stakes at 1 1/16 miles Jan. 4 at Oaklawn and the Rebel. Coal Battle’s demeanor Saturday was over the top, trainer Lonnie Briley said Sunday morning.

“He was just too high,” Briley said. “He was on the muscle in the paddock, and I had to finish saddling him on the walk. He beat himself. He didn’t want to settle. When he broke the gates, he wanted to go. He was just high (Saturday).”

Briley said Coal Battle exited the Arkansas Derby in good shape physically and will spend about 10 days at Oaklawn before shipping to Churchill Downs to continue preparations for the May 3 Kentucky Derby.

Coal Battle ranks sixth on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 95 points.