Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse loved what he saw from Arkansas Derby (G1) runner-up Silent Tactic’s work Friday morning at Churchill Downs ahead of a planned start in the 151st Preakness Stakes (G1) May 16 but needs to make sure a minor but problematic foot bruise doesn’t flare back up.
Meanwhile, trainer Dallas Stewart was similarly delighted with Corona de Oro’s work. He just needs to guarantee he’s in the 14-horse starting gate before shipping to Laurel Park from Kentucky.
Silent Tactic, scratched from the Kentucky Derby (G1) after an untimely recurrence of a foot bruise, went out to the track as soon as it opened and worked a smooth half-mile in :48.80 seconds under exercise rider Jose Belarmino Vasquez. The time ranked 48th of 111 horses at the distance.
“He worked at 5:29 [a .m.], and I saw the video at 5:30,” Casse said by phone from his main base in Ocala, Fla. “I thought he worked very well. I was happy. Had good energy galloping out. That’s what I wanted to see. Now let’s just see how he is. That’s the first time we put pressure on that foot since it started bothering him. Right now, I’d say there’s a decent shot he’s going to go to the Preakness.
“I saw what I needed to see today, but I don’t want to 100 percent commit,” he added. “I want to see what tomorrow brings and how he reacts to this work. I went ahead and gave him some company for that reason. He worked with a pretty nice older horse called Aristotle, a multiple allowance winner.”
Vasquez was the exercise rider for the Mark Casse-trained War of Will, who won the 2019 Preakness.
Casse scratched Silent Tactic three days before the Derby, predicting the foot might be fine come race day but that the horse needed to be 100 percent.
“On Friday, he was perfect. Saturday, Derby Day, he was perfect,” he said. “I’ve been doing this so long, I never look forward to anything, and I very seldom look back. The way the race set up, it would have been in our favor. But it is what it is. I don’t usually worry about things I have no control over.”
Silent Tactic was the only horse to run in all four Derby qualifying races at Oaklawn Park, winning the Southwest (G3) and finishing second in the Smarty Jones, Rebel (G2) and Arkansas Derby. The four-length winner that day was Renegade, who lost the Kentucky Derby by a neck to last-to-first winner Golden Tempo.
“I’ve been really impressed by [Renegade]. Silent Tactic is a good horse, and Renegade ran by him pretty convincingly. He got my attention,” Casse said. “You ask what might have been. The only thing is, so many times we’ve run, and there was no pace. And then in the Derby [there was plenty of pace] I watched it and kind of laughed, ‘Of course!’”
Longshot Corona De Oro Puts In ‘Excellent’ Work For Preakness
Stewart sent out Corona de Oro to work at 7:15 a.m., right after the first track renovation break. He worked five-eighths of a mile in 59.80 seconds, third-fastest of 13 at the distance Friday under exercise rider Pedro Velez.
“Excellent. Fifty-nine and four, galloped out in 1:13,” Stewart said. “A repeat from last week, maybe a little bit stronger. I think we’ll be ready if we get in.”
Corona de Oro went from a front-running maiden victory in his fourth start to finishing third in the April 11 Lexington (G3) at Keeneland. He was the last of four horses on the also-eligible list for the Kentucky Derby and the only one who didn’t ultimately get in the field because of defections. There was another scratch from the Derby, but it came after the 9 a.m. Derby eve deadline. Instead, Corona de Oro worked five furlongs Derby morning in 1:00.20.
With the news that Bob Baffert will not run Pat Day Mile (G2) winner Crude Velocity, Corona de Oro moved into the body of the race under the Preakness’ tiered preference conditions. However, Stewart, wary some new horse could jump in late, said he’s not assuming anything until entries close Monday morning. In the meantime, he believes Corona de Oro deserves a shot at a race like the Preakness.
“I love the horse,” Stewart said. “I’ve loved him since I bought him. I own a piece of him.”
Stewart selected Corona de Oro out of last year’s Fasig-Tipton 2-year-old sale at the Timonium Fairgrounds the week after the Preakness, with David Berman’s U Racing Stables signing the ticket. The Bolt d’Oro colt now is owned by On Our Own Stable, Commonwealth Stable, U Racing Stables, Saints or Sinners, Titletown Racing, Jim Nichols, Edwin S. Barker, Daniel Rivers, John Haines and Stewart.
If he runs, Corona de Oro will have Hall of Famer John Velazquez up, Stewart said. The Preakness was the only Triple Crown race Velazquez hadn’t won until taking the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown in 2023 aboard the Bob Baffert-trained National Treasure.
Asked the key to Corona de Oro winning the 1 3/16-mile Preakness, Stewart said, “When you have John Velazquez, we’ll start with that.”
This story was originally published by Paulick Report on May 8, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Paulick Report as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
