Photo: Gary Johnson / Eclipse Sportswire showcases a remarkable horse about to make history. A seven-figure offspring of the super sire Tapit is all set to take on the first seven-figure race of the 2024-25 Oaklawn meeting. Trainer Mark Casse revealed that Sandman, who won a sharp optional-claiming allowance on Friday at Oaklawn, will be aimed at the Grade 3, $1 million Southwest Stakes for 3-year-olds over a distance of 1 1/16 miles on January 25.

Impressive Speed and Victory

Sandman received a career-high 97 Equibase Speed Figure for his 1 3/4-length victory under Cristian Torres. Racing on a fast track, the favored Sandman covered one mile in a meet-best 1:38.71 and rewarded bettors with a winning payout of $5.20. This was his second start around two turns and fifth start overall. Trainer Casse noted, "I thought he took to the two turns. It was more about him being able to run into the bit a little bit and to take hold of him. Obviously, in those earlier shorter races, you're always kind of hustling and I don't think he likes that. Even in the Street Sense when we ran him around two turns, I felt like he still was always trying to play catch up and never really got into a nice rhythm."The horse was coming off a third-place finish in the 8 1/2-furlong Street Sense Stakes (G3) on October 27 at Churchill Downs. The Street Sense marked his two-turn debut after breaking his maiden at seven furlongs on August 10 at Saratoga. Sandwiched between these two events were fifth-place finishes in his June 27 debut at six furlongs and the Iroquois Stakes (G3) at one mile on September 14, both at Churchill Downs.Sandman was purchased for a significant $1.2 million at the OBS March sale of 2-year-olds in training. He is a half-brother to Grade 3 winner She Can’t Sing, who earned $883,558 in her career.

Trainer's Praise

Trainer Casse described Sandman as a "beautiful horse," a "beautiful mover" with a "wonderful attitude." He said, "From the day we got him, obviously, he cost a lot of money, but he's impressed me. I always kind of came away from every race wanting more or expecting more, but I thought that race the other day was more what I think he is capable of and now he's just got to build on it. If he can build on it, you'll be hearing his name a lot more."

Kentucky Derby Qualifying

The Southwest Stakes, which has been raised to seven figures for the first time (previously worth $800,000), is Oaklawn's second of four Kentucky Derby qualifying races. The 2024 Southwest winner, Mystik Dan, went on to capture the Kentucky Derby. The Southwest will offer 20-10-6-4-2 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top five finishers. Sandman collected four points for his finishes in the Iroquois and Street Sense.