D. J. Stable, St. Elias Stable, West Point Thoroughbreds, and CJ Stables’ Sandman is no stranger to audibles in his training plans. Whether the Arkansas Derby (G1) winner would record an official breeze over the Churchill Downs surface once or twice ahead of the May 3 Kentucky Derby (G1) had been up for debate among the Mark Casse team.
The question was still debated the morning of his scheduled half-mile move April 15, but after a quick fix to a nail in his shoe, the stunning gray son of Tapit glided over the dirt surface with ease just after 7:20 a.m. ET.
“He’s pretty fit coming from the Arkansas Derby; we were debating on if we were just going to put in one really big work or do two works,” said Casse’s Churchill Downs assistant Allen Hardy. “That’s why we just went a little easy work this morning and just let him stretch his legs and get over the surface. That was his first work back since the Arkansas Derby, so we didn’t want to push on him or press on him or do anything too much.”
Sandman posted an official time of :49 3/5 while galloping out five furlongs in 1:01 4/5 and six furlongs in 1:15, according to Churchill Downs clockers.
“We were very happy with him this morning,” Hardy said. “The longer he went, the better he seemed to get. That’s kind of him; the more distance the better, but we were pretty happy with him this morning.”
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The changing of training plans is not something that has bothered Sandman so far in his career. Training was interrupted by winter storms on several occasions at his winter home of Oaklawn Park, including a storm that caused the delay of the Rebel Stakes (G2) by a day in which Sandman would finish a closing third.
Sandman arrived at Churchill Downs shortly after his March 29 Arkansas Derby victory and was immediately met by a severe rain storm that caused flooding and even spawned a couple tornados in the Louisville, Ky. area April 2-6. That led to several days in which Sandman kept to barn-walking to avoid poor track conditions.
“We’ve kept him from training on that track; the surface wasn’t really great when he did ship over here because of the weather,” Hardy said. “We wanted a safe, sound, solid surface for him, so we just waited until the rain and the water cleared up and the track became a little bit better.
“The first few days, just a little recovering from the trip, a little tired. After a few days of walking and resting and recovering from that, he’s picked up his energy levels back and seemed to settle in pretty well.”
Hardy credited the colt’s ability to adapt to the changes in schedule at Oaklawn and Churchill Downs to his intelligence level.
“Since he was a baby, has always had a gentle, kind mind. That makes our jobs a lot easier,” Hardy said. “He’s a lot easier to manage because he’s not hard on himself; he’s not trying to do anything bad or intentionally doing something immature, spooky, or something like that. He’s got a really great mind on him.”
Coal Battle Records Second Breeze for Derby at Churchill Downs
Another Derby colt credited for his strong mind is a familiar face to Sandman: Coal Battle , who defeated Sandman in the Rebel Stakes before finishing third in the Arkansas Derby. The Norman Stables-owned colt also hit the work tab Tuesday for his second breeze beneath the twin spires.
Coal Battle breezes five furlongs in 1:01 1/5 at Churchill Downs
Trainer Lonnie Briley missed the work as he is in search of a 2026 Derby contender at the Ocala Breeders’ Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, but Coal Battle was in good hands with assistant trainer Bethany Taylor—the colt’s primary exercise rider throughout his career.
As he had been in his half-mile work a week prior, Coal Battle was strong down the backside as he entered into his breeze. Once he settled in, he clocked five furlongs in 1:01 1/5 before an easy gallop out in 1:17 for six furlongs.
“He was pretty keen this morning. He had some horses in front of him that he could clock and chase. That gets him on his toes, he gets excited about stuff like that,” Taylor said. “He was pretty aggressive getting to the pole this morning. He leveled off and worked nicely. I kind of shook the reins at him turning for home after he switched leads to see if he had a little more in there or not, and he did. He picked it up a little bit more and galloped out really nicely.”
The rein shake by Taylor was a way to check the tank without stepping on the gas, keeping the curious colt focused as he made his way past the large Churchill Downs grandstand.
“You just get his attention a little bit. He likes to look around and check the scenery out even when he’s working,” Taylor said. “He’s pretty level-headed; he takes everything in stride. He’s handling all the things going up and the changes happening for Derby. He’s handling that in stride. He’s getting across the track wonderfully.”
Nine of 20 Derby Contenders on Site
Sandman and Coal Battle are two of nine horses currently in the Top 20 point qualifiers on site at Churchill Downs as of Tuesday morning. Their seven competitors all took to the track Tuesday as well to continue their preparations. Of note among them were Steve Asmussen’s pair of Tiztastic and Publisher , who both began their training sessions schooling in the 20-horse Kentucky Derby starting gate. East Avenue also made his first appearance galloping after arriving from Keeneland April 14.
Also on the work tab with a :49 4/5 half-mile was Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners’ Built , who ranks 21st on the Derby leaderboard who could potentially run in the Pat Day Mile (G2) on the Derby undercard.
