Preakness 151: Wait and See for Silent Tactic Following Friday Breeze-Corona de Oro Turns in ‘Excellent’ Preakness Work Friday-O’Neill: Robusta Has Things Going for Him in Preakness

Wait and See for Silent Tactic Following Friday Breeze
Corona de Oro Turns in ‘Excellent’ Preakness Work Friday
O’Neill: Robusta Has Things Going for Him in Preakness

For video updates go to http://preakness.isctv.com/

LAUREL, MD – 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.xx 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!’”

Silent Tactic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64ByyegIuvo

Corona de Oro Turns In ‘Excellent’ Work Friday 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.”

Corona de Oro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwC_o8xZbPg

O’Neill: Robusta Has Things Going for Him in Preakness

Trainer Doug O’Neill thinks Calumet Farm’s Robusta will have some things going for him in the Preakness Stakes (G1) May 16 at Laurel Park.

“He’s got speed, he’s got stamina, he’s got class.,” O’Neill said. “If things go his way, he can be a factor. If all goes well, we’re hoping to see it Preakness Day.”

Things didn’t go Robusta’s way May 2 at Churchill Downs, where he experienced bumping at the start of the Kentucky Derby (G1) and a wide trip to finish 14th. The son of Accelerate has subsequently shown his trainer that he’s ready to run back in the Preakness.

“He didn’t break all that well [in the Derby] and he got into some trouble early, but he came out of the race in great shape,” O’Neill said. “Talking to the ownership group we just decided that we’d come in and take a shot at the Preakness.”

Robusta, who had finished second in the San Felipe (G2) and seventh in the Santa Anita Derby (G1) prior to the Derby, is training for the Preakness at Keeneland.

“He came into Keeneland in great shape,” O’Neill said. “He trains like a monster and we just thought that he was doing good.”

O’Neill celebrated a Preakness victory in 2012 with Reddam Racing LLC’s I’ll Have Another.

“It’s such an historic race, Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.,” said O’Neill, who also saddled Reddam Racing LLC’s Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist for a third-place finish in the 2016 Preakness. “Obviously, it’s a unique situation this year being at Laurel Park, but all that stuff is a good addition to an exciting afternoon and we’re optimistic that we can see it through.”

Robusta, who will be ridden Saturday by Rafael Bejarano, is scheduled to ship from Keeneland to Laurel Park Tuesday. O’Neill will arrive next Friday.