Mark Casse Shifts Gears, Entering Sandman In 2025 Preakness Stakes

Fans of Metallica are celebrating following Saturday’s announcement that Sandman will now run in the 2025 Preakness Stakes. After previously stating that the seventh place Kentucky Derby finisher would aim for the Belmont Stakes, Mark Casse and his team have pivoted to the “The Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown”- just days prior to Monday’s post-position draw.

Sandman, who was beaten by 12 ½ lengths in the Run for the Roses as the second overall betting choice, is expected to battle for morning-line favoritism following the deflections of Sovereignty, Baeza and Rodriguez.

Casse credited Sandman’s recent training and attitude with playing a major role in his decision to switch gears to the Preakness.

“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 Casse. “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.”

The talented colt named after the heavy metal band’s 1991 hit song “Enter Sandman” will face a much softer field in Preakness than he did in the Kentucky Derby.

Enter Sandman.

The Tapit colt and Arkansas Derby champion Sandman will enter to race in the 150th Preakness Stakes Saturday, May 17! pic.twitter.com/Rm5wSe2Nkb
— Preakness Stakes (@PreaknessStakes) May 10, 2025

Sandman

POST NUMBER: TBD

JOCKEY: Jose Ortiz / TRAINER: Mark Casse

RECORD: 9 starts: 3-1-2

TOP EQUIBASE SPEED FIGURE: 104

RUNNING STYLE: Closer

CAREER EARNINGS: $1,254,595

This son of Tapit and Distorted Music profiles as one of the top betting contenders for the 150th running of the Preakness Stakes (G1).

Sandman Breeding

Sire: Tapit has sired Belmont Stakes winners Tonalist (2014), Creator (2016), Tapwrit (2017), and Essential Quality (2021) - highlighted by the prize of 2022 Horse of the Year Flightline.

Dam: Distorted Music - owned several wins in her career at distances of more than a mile - which results in no distance questions for Sandman.

Sandman Jockey / Owner Derby Achievements

Jockey Jose Ortiz, who won the 2022 Preakness Stakes with Early Voting, will look to earn his second in-the-money finish in his sixth career mount in the second leg of the Triple Crown.

Trainer Mark Casse, who won the 2019 Preakness Stakes with War of Will in 2019, will be in search of his second victory with Sandman. Among his four total starts, he also hit the board with a runner-up finish Classic Empire in 2017).

Sandman Race History

Sandman has a career record of three wins with one place and two show finishes in eight career starts. Broke his maiden in just his second start, last August with a win at a distance of 7 furlongs at Saratoga, with Dylan Davis aboard.

After a runner-up finish in the Southwest Stakes (G3) and a third-place place finish in the Rebel stakes (G2) he put forth a career-best effort in winning the Arkansas Derby (G1) on March 29. The win, which earned him a career-best 104 Equibase speed figure, was impressive beating Kentucky Derby rivals Coal Battle and Publisher.

Prior to his seventh-place finish in this year’s Kentucky Derby, the son of Tapit had improved his Equibase speed figure in each of his last five starts (90-97-100-101-104). However, that impressive stretch came to an end after being bumped badly at the start and only earning an 86 in the Run for the Roses.

Sandman Preakness Stakes Outlook

With front-runner’s typically finding success in the Preakness Stakes, Sandman’s late-running style may not be ideal for the tight turns at Pimlico. However, if he can repeat his Arkansas Derby form, and runs closer to the pace, he could be dangerous against a depleted field that will be missing several of the top three-year-olds in the country.

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