2/20/26 Barn Notes
Compiled by Robert Yates
Dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse’s two projected starters for the $1 million Rebel Stakes (G2) for 3-year-olds had their final workouts for the March 1 race on a chilly Friday morning at Oaklawn.
Strategic Risk, Kylee Jordan, breezed five furlongs in 1:00 just after the track opened for training. Following a surface renovation break roughly two hours later, Silent Tactic covered a half-mile in :47.40 under two-time Oaklawn riding champion Cristian Torres. The track was fast.
Strategic Risk and Silent Tactic, both stakes winners at the meeting, are among at least eight horses scheduled to be entered for the 1 1/16-mile Rebel, which is Oaklawn’s third Kentucky Derby qualifying race.
Casse is bidding for his fourth consecutive victory in a Kentucky Derby qualifying race at Oaklawn after capturing last season’s $1.5 million Arkansas Derby (G1) with Sandman and the first two legs in 2026.
Strategic Risk and Silent Tactic ran 1-2, respectively, in the $250,000 Smarty Jones Stakes Jan. 3. Silent Tactic passed nine horses in the final three-sixteenths of a mile en route to a 3 ¼-length victory in the $1 million Southwest Stakes (G3) Feb. 6. Both races were 1 1/16 miles.
Silent Tactic was working for the first time since the Southwest. Clockers caught the son of Tacitus covering his opening quarter-mile in :23.80 and galloping out five furlongs in 1:00.20 and six furlongs in 1:14.40.
“This is probably the best work I’ve seen from him,” said assistant trainer Caden Arthur, who oversees Casse’s Oaklawn division. “Normally, he’s not really the best work horse. He had a good work going into the Southwest, but I thought this work was a lot better for him. Did it all easy. Torres was standing straight up on him, not asking him at all. (Silent Tactic) came back to the barn barely breathing, like it didn’t take much out of him.”
Strategic Risk is looking to bounce back from a 10th-place finish in the Southwest. He was beaten 18 ½ lengths after spinning his wheels late. Casse said following the race that Strategic Risk’s performance may have been impacted by a winter storm late last month that led Oaklawn to close the track for training for nine consecutive days (Jan. 24-Feb. 1) and delayed the Southwest six days.
Arthur said Friday’s work was designed to be more taxing than Strategic Risk’s final breeze for the Southwest. Strategic Risk went :36.20 for his opening three furlongs and galloped out six furlongs in 1:12.80.
“Going into the Southwest, we put a little easier work into him,” Arthur said. “Maybe that wasn’t best for him and then missing all the training. Hopefully, he’s back to that Smarty form, that Florida form.”
Casse also worked multiple Oaklawn stakes winner Counting Stars Friday morning in advance of a scheduled start in the $750,000 Honeybee Stakes (G3) for 3-year-old fillies March 1.
Under Francisco Arrieta, Counting Stars covered five furlongs in :59.40. The 1 1/16-mile Honeybee is Oaklawn’s second Kentucky Oaks qualifying race.
Entries will be accepted and post positions drawn Saturday for the Rebel and Honeybee. Both races will both offer 105 total points (50-25-15-10-5, respectively) to the top five finishers toward starting eligibility for the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks.
The Honeybee has a record purse in 2026 after previously being worth $500,000.
Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler
Trainer Tom Amoss, a New Orleans native, had two reasons to celebrate Monday afternoon.
Amoss was in the French Quarter for Lundi Gras, aka “Fat Monday,” or the day before Mardi Gras. Roughly 450 miles north, Amoss was notching his 16th career Oaklawn stakes victory when Oscar’s Hope claimed the $150,000 Ozark for 3-year-olds at six furlongs.
Oscar’s Hope was cutting back to a sprint after finishing eighth in the $250,000 Smarty Jones Stakes Jan. 3. The 1 1/16-mile Smarty Jones was Oaklawn’s first Kentucky Derby qualifying race. Oscar’s Hope won the 7 ½-furlong Jean Lafitte Stakes Nov. 26 at Delta Downs in his final start at 2.
“Like any good young horse, you have to see just how far they will go in distance,” Amoss said Monday night. “The Delta Downs race encouraged us because that was a two-turn race, but, of course, it’s on a bull-ring track. It doesn’t always translate to a two-turn race on a big track and it didn’t. So, we feel Oscar’s Hope’s a sprinter and we went back to what he’s been successful at and really delighted with the outcome.”
Oscar’s Hope ($7.20) won the Ozark by 1 ½ lengths under Luis Saez. The winning time for six furlongs over a fast track was 1:10.34. The Ozark was the fourth victory in seven lifetime starts for Oscar’s Hope, increasing his earnings to $323,434 for Michigan owner Michael McLoughlin, who is also a New Orleans native.
“Not only did he grow up in New Orleans, but he has a place here and he comes in the winter,” Amoss said. “So, when we won the race today, I was down in the French Quarter for Lundi Gras, the day before Mardi Gras, and it’s a big day for the locals. So, I was in the French Quarter and called him after the race and he said: ‘Come to the house, let’s have a drink.’ He was here, so we didn’t get to watch the race together, but we celebrated together in his French Quarter house. So, it was really fun.”
Amoss said Oscar’s Hope exited the Ozark in good shape physically, but next-race plans are pending. He is scheduled return to Fair Grounds this weekend, Amoss said. A major spring goal, Amoss said, is the $600,000 Pat Day Mile (G2) for 3-year-olds May 2 at Churchill Downs.
“Obviously, we would have a start before then,” Amoss said. “That’s to be determined.”
McLoughlin purchased Oscar’s Hope, a Kentucky-bred son of Twirling Candy, for $150,000 at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
