Mark Casse arrives at Oaklawn, makes immediate impact with eight stakes entries
Mark Casse arrived at Oaklawn with a deep string and, as of mid-February, had horses entered in eight stakes while training Southwest winner Silent Tactic and Bayakoa winner Nitrogen.
Dual Hall of Famer Mark Casse has wasted no time at Oaklawn Park this winter, arriving with a strong string and, by mid-February, horses entered in eight stakes at the meeting that began Dec. 12. His trainees include Silent Tactic, winner of the Feb. 6 Southwest Stakes (G3) at 1 1/16 miles, and Nitrogen, who delivered a 2 3/4-length victory in the Feb. 7 Bayakoa Stakes (G3) in her 4-year-old debut for breeder/owners Jon and Leonard Green (D. J. Stable).
Silent Tactic rolled in the Southwest under Cristian Torres, passing nine horses in the final three-sixteenths to win by 3 1/4 lengths and earn a preliminary Beyer Speed Figure of 88. Oaklawn classified the Southwest as a $1 million Kentucky Derby qualifying race and BloodHorse noted Casse will point Silent Tactic to the $1 million Rebel Stakes (G2) March 1 at Oaklawn. Casse assessed the performance bluntly: "The thing, too, it wasn't like when Sandman won the Arkansas Derby. 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."
Workouts underline Silent Tactic's readiness. Clockers caught him working for the first time since the Southwest with an opening quarter in :23.80, galloping out five furlongs in 1:00.20 and six furlongs in 1:14.40. In a later final workout for the Rebel, Silent Tactic covered a half-mile in :47.40 under Torres on a surface Oaklawn reported as "fast."
Casse debated scratching Nitrogen after shipping her in from Florida but elected to run in the Bayakoa and was rewarded. Jose Ortiz rode Nitrogen to an "easy" 2 3/4-length score at 1 1/16 miles on Feb. 7, marking her first start at age 4 for Jon and Leonard Green. That result reinforced Casse's immediate impact in Oaklawn stakes ranks after his recent arrivals.
Not every Casse runner had things go his way. In the Feb. 16 Ozark Stakes at six furlongs, Michael McLoughlin’s Oscar’s Hope, ridden by Luis Saez, swept to the lead in midstretch and upset the race by 1 1/2 lengths. Oscar’s Hope denied Casse what Oaklawn called his ninth stakes victory at the 2025-2026 meeting when Casse’s 3-5 favorite Ewing, entering off two straight wins and a Grade 2 score, had an awkward start and finished sixth. The Ozark fractions read :23.24, :47.3, 1:13.34, 1:40.09 with a final time of 1:46.7; Dirty Rich and Extract’s Arrow were scratched, reducing the field to seven. Betting pools on the Ozark produced a $2 exacta (8-9) payout of $34.40 and a $2 superfecta (8-9-4-11) payout of $1,313.60.
Looking ahead to March 1, Oaklawn listed at least eight early probables each for the Rebel and the Honeybee. Casse projected two starters for the Rebel: Strategic Risk, who breezed five furlongs in 1:00 with Kylee Jordan up and is seeking to rebound from a 10th-place, 18 1/2-length defeat in the Southwest, and Silent Tactic, who has the Southwest win and sharp works. Casse suggested Strategic Risk’s poor Southwest showing "may have been impacted by a winter storm" that shut Oaklawn training from Jan. 24-Feb. 1 and delayed the Southwest six days.
Casse arrives in Hot Springs with momentum on paper, three consecutive Kentucky Derby qualifying wins at Oaklawn is the account given by BloodHorse, and with entries in eight stakes he is positioned to push that run further at the $1 million Rebel on March 1 and, ultimately, at the $1.5 million Arkansas Derby (G1) on March 28. Oaklawn compiled the recent releases and charts under Robert Yates, with photo credit to Coady Media and track marketing contact Chris Ho listed for follow up.
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