Jockey Jose Ortiz working Sandman on the grass at the Oklahoma turf training track at Saratoga. (Tim Wilkin photo)
Casse finds 3.5 million reasons to run on grass in KY Downs’ DK Horse Nashville Derby
Story by Mike Kane
FRANKLIN, Ky. — Early in what turned into a Hall of Fame career, pitcher Mariano Rivera reinvented himself from a starter to a reliever. On Saturday at Kentucky Downs, Sandman – whose name directly connects to Rivera’s walk-in song, Enter Sandman – will face a transitional test that might change his career.
After 11 races on dirt, topped by victory in the G1 Arkansas Derby, Sandman will try turf for the first time in the $3.5 million G3 Nashville Derby, the marquee event of the stakes-heavy program. The son of Tapit is part of a field that includes three other colts that ran in the G1 Kentucky Derby. With his late-running style, Sandman ended up seventh in the Derby and third in G1 Preakness. He wore blinkers for the first time in the G2 Jim Dandy at Saratoga and was way more forward than usual but weakened and finished last of five.
Following the Jim Dandy, Sandman’s connections, D.J. Stable, St. Elias Stable, West Point Thoroughbreds and CJ Stables and trainer Mark Casse decided to try something different. They opted to bypass the $1.25 million G1 Travers Stakes at Saratoga last weekend and point their gray to the 1 5/16-miles Nashville Derby at all-grass Kentucky Downs. Jose Ortiz has the mount.
“Obviously, the top 3-year-olds on the dirt have separated themselves at this point in the year, so no need to keep banging our heads against the wall,” said West Point president Terry Finley. “The Tapits have over the years done well on the grass.”
Before he was entered in the Nashville Derby, Sandman gave his connections some confidence with two works on the grass at Saratoga.
“We’re excited about it,” Finley said. “It looks like a really cool race with very nice horses.”
Rivera started 10 games for the New York Yankees in 1995 and the rest of his 1,115 major-league appearances came in relief, primarily as a closer. In 1999, he started using Metallica’s Enter Sandman as the music that played at Yankee Stadium when he came in from the bullpen. D.J. Stable’s Jon Green named Sandman because he is a Rivera fan.
Casse said the experiment with the surface switch makes sense.
“His pedigree says turf,” Casse said. “There’s three and a half million reasons to give it a try. I like the distance, and I just think it’s that time for him to do it. He struggled in his last start. He’s got to have some pace because he doesn’t quicken enough on the dirt. I’m hoping that he can quicken a little better on the turf. Jose worked him the other day, and he was really excited about him. When he’s excited, I’m excited.”
Sandman breezed a half-mile on the Oklahoma training track turf course on Aug. 10 in 49.70 seconds.
“You just kind of want to see how they get over it,” Casse said at Saratoga. “The turns are a little sharp here for him. He struggled a little bit with the turn, but then I had told Jose the last eighth of a mile, let him drop his head a little and let him pick it up. And he said, if he had done that, he would have never got him pulled up. It turned out he couldn’t hardly pull him up as it was. He was very pleased. I was pleased. We’re just looking for how they move over it. He said he thought he quickened a little better over the turf, too.”
On Aug. 22, Sandman turned in a 48.70 work, the fourth-fastest of 64 at the distance that morning, and he was bound for Kentucky Downs, where he will race without blinkers.
Sandman’s last run on the grass getting ready for the Nashville Derby on Aug 30th pic.twitter.com/uvS6z20XPq
— Griffin Johnson (@lmgriffjohnson) August 27, 2025
Sandman was purchased for $1.2 million as a 2-year-old at OBS March and has earned $1,494,595. His performance in the Nashville Derby may determine his future on the track and as a stallion.
“He’s a Grade 1 winner on the dirt,” Finley said. “If he could become a Grade 1 winner by the end of the year on the grass, I think that would be very impactful for a horse like him. “
