Woodbine’s perennial leading trainer MARK CASSE sends out John Oxley’s pair of Kentucky Derby (G1) hopefuls on Sunday, March 8 at Oaklawn Park for the $1 million Rebel Stakes (G2). Casse, a duo Hall of Famer, still seeks his first Derby win and it is Southwest Stakes winner SILENT TACTIC (Tacitus) who figures to be the trainer’s best shot for 2026. Silent Tactic drew post 7 in the 10-horse field, while STRATEGIC RISK (Noble Bird) has post 6. The Rebel is race 11 at Oaklawn on Sunday with a post time of 6:23 Eastern.
On Saturday, March 7, a sharp field goes postward in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream and the Grade 3 Gotham at Aqueduct, also on Saturday, has a solid field traveling one mile.
Silent Tactic received a Beyer Speed Figure of 88, a career high, following his 3 1/4-length victory in the 1 1/16-mile Southwest, a $1 million event that was Oaklawn’s second of four Kentucky Derby (G1) qualifying races.
Under two-time Oaklawn riding champion Cristian Torres, Silent Tactic passed nine horses in the final three-sixteenths of a mile to win going away. The Southwest was Casse’s third consecutive victory in a Kentucky Derby qualifying race at Oaklawn, following last season’s $1.5 million Arkansas Derby (G1) with Sandman and the $250,000 Smarty Jones Stakes Jan. 3 with Strategic Risk. Silent Tactic closed to finish second in the 1 1/16-mile Smarty Jones.
“The thing, too, it wasn’t like when Sandman won the Arkansas Derby,” Casse said about Silent Tactic’s Southwest win. “There was a pace meltdown. There wasn’t a pace meltdown (Friday). I think the impressive thing about Silent Tactic is he ran down an average pace.”
Silent Tactic won his debut on Tapeta at Woodbine and then was second by less than a length to The Big Con in the Grade 3 Grey Stakes. Silent Tactic was originally a $60,000 yearling purchase, but a $500,000 April Ocala two-year-old in training buy.
Strategic Risk tracked a soft pace when he won the Smarty Jones, but was close to a hotter pace in the Southwest and he faded to 10th.
The Casse pair meet up with LITMUS TEST (Nyquist), a Bob Baffert-trained bay colt who won the Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) on Dec. 13 with a 96 Beyer Speed Figure. Flavian Prat rides Litmus Test, who was fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1). Also in the field is the Not This Time colt BLACKOUT TIME, who was second in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity to eventual champion Ted Noffey.
~ with files from Oaklawn media
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