Welcome to the Kentucky Derby Prospect Profile. Listed here are the latest winners of the Highway to the Derby schedule every week that qualify for the 1.4 Mile Derby to be held at Churchill Downs on Could 2, 2026.
This week we’ll take a more in-depth look techniques of silencegained the $1 million Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park on February 6 by three and 1 / 4 lengths. He racked up 20 factors en path to the win, transferring him to No. 1 on the Highway to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 25 whole factors after the Feb. 6-8 weekend. Following the preliminary outcomes of February 14th, he at the moment ranks 4th on the leaderboard.
Race abstract: Silent Tactic’s earlier 4 races have all been 1 1/16 miles, exhibiting that Corridor of Fame coach Mark Casse thought longer was higher for the Tacitus-bred colt from the start. His first two begins had been at Woodbine’s all-weather observe, the place he gained his profession debut within the Grade 3 Guess 365 Grey Stakes by two lengths and completed second by three-quarters of a size.
Silent Tactic’s first foray into filth was a second-place end within the $250,000 Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn Park, dropping to stablemate Strategic Threat by 4 and a half lengths. His first race was the Southwest Stakes at Sizzling Springs, Arkansas, 5 weeks later.
Silent Tactic jumps from 10th He took the lead within the remaining 400 meters from a seven-wide go from Cristian Torres and coated the gap in 24.56 seconds (in response to Equibase GPS information) for a commanding victory. The ultimate eight mile time was 12.08 seconds, which is uncommon for a two-turn filth race and proves Silent Tactic to be a professional Kentucky Derby contender.
“Final time at Smarty Jones, I did not have the tempo and he was nonetheless coming, so I knew he was going to reply, so I used to be fairly assured going into this race with him,” Torres stated. “After I made it clear to him, I knew he was going to fireplace for me. … I feel the longer the gap, the higher.”
Velocity numbers: Silent Tactic posted new career-best 103 Equibase velocity numbers and 88 Beyer velocity numbers within the Southwest Stakes. He improved his Equibase numbers by 17 factors, whereas top-ranked Beyer improved by 7 factors. Though he must proceed to enhance, Silent Tactic is throughout the vary of one of the best 3-year-old horses.
Working fashion: Deep closers like Silent Tactic require some racing luck. They depend on others to make sure an sincere tempo, and elements similar to site visitors and lack of floor may be detrimental when launching remaining bids.
Pedigree notes: Silent Tactic is a first-crop offspring of graded stakes winner Tacitus, who completed second within the 2019 Belmont Stakes and Travers Stakes and third within the Kentucky Derby the identical 12 months. The main sire, Tacitus of Tapit, was a grinder with loads of stamina.
Silent Tactic is the primary runner out of Gun Runner’s mare Magical Signal, who missed out on a spot in her solo begin, however comes from a household that included her fourth dam (her maternal great-great-grandmother) Maximova, a French G1 winner and five-stakes winner.
Derby potentialities: I actually like the best way the Silent Tactic turned out on the Southwest S. The second-place finisher, Smarty Jones, ran the ultimate 400 miles in a formidable 23.78 seconds. I feel he has room to enhance with extra expertise racing on filth tracks.
Coach Cass stated he’s involved about how shortly Silent Tactic’s subsequent begin will go, as he says the $1 million Insurgent Stakes is scheduled for March 1 at Oak Garden. The race interval will probably be 23 days. However, what attracts me to the Kentucky Derby course are 3-year-old horses who can end quick in a two-turn filth race, and Silent Tactic suits that profile.
