Silent Tactic Breezes Five Furlongs, Sets Sights on Arkansas Derby

Silent Tactic looked sharp in his final prep, breezing five furlongs in 1:01.60 Thursday morning at Oaklawn Park and leaving assistant trainer Caden Arthur with nothing to complain about. "He looked phenomenal today, so we're very happy with it," Arthur said. "He won't work again before the race. That was it."

The work came during Oaklawn's special 10-minute workers-only period immediately after the surface renovation break, with two-time Oaklawn riding champion Cristian Torres in the irons over a fast track. The 1:01.60 clocking ranked seventh fastest of 11 works at the distance that morning. It was also Silent Tactic's first published breeze since the $1 million Rebel Stakes (G2) on March 1, where the bay colt from Tacitus's first crop lost by a nose to Class President.

Arthur, who oversees dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse's Oaklawn division, kept the week deliberately low-key leading into the move. "He's had an easier week galloping, so we're just trying to take it easy," he said. "He's feeling really good going into this race, so we're excited. Hopefully, we can get on the better end of the photo this time or something. But that's part of horse racing."

Owner John Oxley's Silent Tactic will be the only horse to run in all four of Oaklawn's Kentucky Derby qualifying races this winter-spring meet. The colt finished second behind stablemate Strategic Risk in the $250,000 Smarty Jones Stakes on January 3, won the $1 million Southwest Stakes (G3) on February 6, then ran second in the Rebel. All three preps were contested at 1 1/16 miles. The pedigree-to-price arc on this horse is worth noting: he sold for $60,000 as a Fasig-Tipton October yearling before going through the ring again at $500,000 as an OBS April juvenile.

His résumé puts him in a strong position heading into the 1 1/8-mile Arkansas Derby on March 28. Silent Tactic currently ranks fourth on the official Churchill Downs Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 50 points. The $1.5 million Grade 1 will distribute 200 points to its top five finishers on a 100-50-25-15-10 scale, meaning the winner vaults toward the front of the Churchill Downs queue. Among his expected rivals, Litmus Test (Nyquist), trained by Bob Baffert, holds 34 points at No. 13, while Todd Pletcher's Renegade (Into Mischief), the Sam F. Davis Stakes winner, sits at No. 14 with 25 points. Blackout Time (Not This Time), trained by Kenny McPeek, is No. 29 with 15 points.

The probable field also includes Exosome (Candy Ride {Arg}), a recent Oaklawn allowance winner trained by Kelsey Danner, and Taptastic (Tapit) under Steve Asmussen, who broke his maiden at first asking over a mile at Oaklawn on March 8. The Oaklawn racing department noted additional horses remain under consideration. Post positions will be drawn following the first race Saturday, March 22.

The historical backdrop adds extra weight to the connections Baffert and Pletcher bring into the gate. Both trainers have won the Arkansas Derby a record five times. Asmussen, training Taptastic at his home track, is a four-time winner of the race. For Silent Tactic, the nose loss in the Rebel still stings, and the connections know a win on March 28 would transform his Kentucky Derby outlook entirely.