Mark Casse has put Silent Tactic back on the Saratoga worktab after the foot bruise that ruled the colt out of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, giving the Hall of Fame trainer a live route back into the three-year-old picture.
Silent Tactic worked five furlongs in 1:00.65 on Saratoga’s main track on Sunday morning, exercising in company with Measure as Casse builds him toward a first start since finishing second to Renegade in the Arkansas Derby on March 28.
The update matters because Silent Tactic had been a genuine Classic-season player before the setback.
He won the Southwest Stakes, placed in the Smarty Jones and Rebel Stakes, and was then forced to miss the spring’s defining races when the left-front foot issue lingered.
Casse Team Builds Saratoga Hand
Casse told Thoroughbred Daily News that Silent Tactic’s foot is now good, while also admitting he does not yet know exactly what to expect after the missed time.
The same Sunday worktab sharpened two major stablemates. Nitrogen, last month’s Ogden Phipps winner, covered four furlongs in :48.06 as she heads toward the Whitney Stakes on August 8. Counting Stars, winner of the Acorn Stakes, worked five furlongs in 1:00.50 before a planned Coaching Club American Oaks run on July 25.
For Casse, the development gives Saratoga a deeper summer storyline: Silent Tactic is no longer just a spring what-if. He is back in motion, and the Jim Dandy now looks the obvious measuring point.
