Sandman (Tapit) and La Cara (Street Sense), Grade I winners for dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse, each had five-furlong workouts over a fast track Saturday morning at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas.
GI Arkansas Derby winner Sandman, under Cristian Torres, went in :59.60 (1/16). He covered his opening eighth of a mile in :12, a quarter-mile in :24 and three furlongs in :35.80 before galloping out six furlongs in 1:12.40.
Unraced since late August, Sandman has had five published workouts in advance of his yet-to-be determined 4-year-old debut.
“He's great,” said Torres. “He's an easy horse to work with. He did it all on his own. He's a nice horse to ride, so I just put my hands down and he did all the work. He had a target today and he actually liked it. There was a horse that started like five lengths in front of me. When I asked him at the quarter pole, he went on and passed that horse. He's feeling good.”
MGISW La Cara also worked moments after the surface renovation break, clocking five furlongs in 1:00.20 (2/16) under exercise rider Autumn Lavertu, galloping out six furlongs in 1:13, according to clockers.
“Went good and easy,” Caden Arthur, who oversees Casse's Oaklawn division, said. “Just trying to get her a little more fit for the race in February.”
La Cara, who hasn't raced since finishing fifth in the GI Cotilion Stakes Sept. 20, is scheduled to make her 4-year-old debut in the GIII Bayakoa Stakes Feb. 7 at Oaklawn.
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