Kentucky Derby contender Sandman was reared by a legendary Minnesota breeder

Although no Minnesota-bred horses are featured in the lineup of Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, a significant local contingent is set to converge upon Churchill Downs. The group, a dozen in its totality, will back a gray roan colt bred in Kentucky with three career victories.

Sandman, the winning horse in March 29’s Arkansas Derby, boasts the Kentucky Derby’s second-best morning-line odds at 5-1. He’s also a continuation of the late Bob Lothenbach’s legacy in Minnesota’s horse racing and breeding community — one which has expanded through nearly every corner of Canterbury Park.

Lothenbach, raised in Bloomington, launched a printing company out of a warehouse garage in 1988. As the company grew into a multi-million dollar empire, Lothenbach developed a passion that fueled his secondary career as a horse owner and breeder. He poured millions into the sport and garnered more than $30.2 million in purses since 2000.

“I don’t know if closure is ever the word, but it is truly a special time and a way of remembering Bob as a person and competitor,” said longtime racehorse trainer Joel Berndt.

By the time of his unexpected death in November 2023, at age 64, Lothenbach owned about 200 horses, including the colt named for the famed Metallica song “Enter Sandman.” That horse marks the actualization of a dream Lothenbach forged more than three decades ago.

Sandman, sold to a consortium of owners for $1.2 million in 2024 and trained by Mark Casse, will be Lothenbach’s first-ever horse to run at the Kentucky Derby. He experienced several near misses in pursuit of the lofty goal.

Now, Lothenbach’s brothers, Jack and Frank, and several of his children will be on-site to watch Sandman craft another chapter of the family’s horse racing legacy.

Lothenbach brought horses to race in some of the nation’s most storied venues, but he viewed Churchill Downs as the mecca.

While Lothenbach vowed to never attend the Kentucky Derby without having his own horse in the race, the longtime owner and breeder made an exception to his rule in 1997. One of Lothenbach’s former horses — Saint Ballado — sired Captain Bodgit, who ran in that year’s race.

Frank Lothenbach said his brother made this lone exception because he felt it may have been his only chance to see the Kentucky Derby live. From then on, Bob Lothenbach knew he wouldn’t return to Churchill Downs unless he could cheer on his own horse.

“He had the Derby fire in his belly,” Frank Lothenbach said. “Horse racing, from a hobby, became a business. It was just crazy how it took off and the success that he had.”

Lothenbach Stables soon became a national entity. The organization bred and raised horses in various states, with trainers stationed in Minnesota, Louisiana, Kentucky and Illinois.

“He could have been all over the country with his horses,” Frank Lothenbach said. “He decided to put most of his horse stock here and raced here in Canterbury.”

Lothenbach elevated the entire horse racing field in Minnesota. With the owner pouring significant resources into breeding and developing high-caliber horses, it became simple: Match the Lothenbach horses’ quality or settle for second-tier finishes.

“He was a Minnesota-first guy,” Berndt said. “He always said that his dream was to go to the Kentucky Derby, but to add to that dream, he really wanted to go to the Kentucky Derby with a Minnesota-bred [horse]. We were going to get there eventually.”

In the Kentucky Derby’s 151-year history, just four horses with Minnesotan owners have raced at Churchill Downs. Most recently, Barry and Joni Butzow’s Zozos and Jeff Drown’s Zandon took part in the 2022 race. In 1990, Unbridled became the only horse with Minnesotan ownership to win the Kentucky Derby.

Less than two years after Lothenbach’s death, a closer racing out of post 17 will look to etch his name into horse racing immortality. For Frank Lothenbach, Saturday will mark the accumulation of countless hours, resources and love his brother poured into the sport.

5:57 p.m., Saturday at Churchill Downs

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