John Oxley

Silent Tactic (Tacitus), winner of the GIII Southwest S. Feb. 6 and narrow runner-up in Sunday's GII Rebel S., will be pointed to the $1.5-million GI Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Mar. 28, per trainer Mark Casse. "I thought Cristian (Torres) gave him a good trip," Casse said. "He was a little keener, which wasn't surprising to me because he's trained keener. He ended up settling for Cristian, but it took a little bit of doing. He was wanting to go. I think if you look at his numbers, especially if...

Mark Casse is among the hottest trainers in America, was recently named Chairman of the Board of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company, and continues to help lead the fight to save racing in South Florida. So, there was plenty to talk about when the Hall of Fame trainer joined this week's TDN Writers' Room Podcast presented by Keeneland. Casse was the Gainesway Guest of the Week. Casse will head into the weekend with 17 wins from 38 starters at Oaklawn, good for a win rate of 45%. He bolstered his...

John Oxley's Silent Tactic (Tacitus) will likely make his next start in the Mar. 1 GII Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park following his upset victory in the GIII Southwest Stakes Friday in Arkansas, trainer Mark Casse confirmed. The Southwest was Casse's third consecutive victory in a Kentucky Derby qualifying race at Oaklawn, following last season's GI Arkansas Derby with Sandman (Tapit) and the Jan. 3 Smarty Jones Stakes with Strategic Risk (Noble Bird). Silent Tactic closed to finish second in the 1 1/16-mile Smarty Jones. "The thing, too, it wasn't...

For the majority of the previous century Aggies tried to gig'em some Horns, Bears attempted to boil the Owls, Red Raiders fired at Horned Frogs, and the Coogs, the Stangs and 'dem Hogs rounded out what were some raucous match-ups in the bygone era of the Southwest Conference. As the saying went for those Texas college sports teams who were joined by the University of Arkansas, "If you're going to compete, you might as well win." Well, the old conference may have broken up back in the 90s, but you...

Strategic Risk (Noble Bird) rolled into town from Florida, and not only topped the exacta in the Smarty Jones Stakes for his connections, but also took home Kentucky Derby points in the process. Dominating a maiden field at first asking June 7 at Gulfstream Park against fellow Florida-breds, he missed the board in back to back graded starts at Saratoga, but bounced back to run third Oct. 18 in the Florida Sired Affirmed Stakes. Building on that effort, and at his first trip at 1 1/16-miles over the main track...

'TDN Rising Star presented by Hagyard' Further Ado (Gun Runner), a jaw-dropping, 20-length maiden winner in his two-turn debut at Keeneland Oct. 10, took care of business with a 1 3/4-length victory as the 3-5 favorite in Saturday's GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. at Churchill Downs. Universe (Global Campaign) was second; Soldier N Diplomat (Army Mule) was third. Placed in a tracking fourth by jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. through solid fractions of :23.35 and :46.76, Further Ado made a three-wide bid approaching the quarter pole. The Spendthrift Farm colorbearer fought...

After sweeping the juvenile Grade I features on FallStars Weekend with 'TDN Rising Stars' Presented by Hagyard Tommy Jo (Into Mischief) in the Darley Alcibiades Stakes and Ted Noffey (Into Mischief) in the Claiborne Breeders' Futurity, Spendthrift Farm cut loose another potential player in the juvenile division when Further Ado (c, 2, Gun Runner--Sky Dreamer, by Sky Mesa) shot away from his overmatched rivals to break his maiden by a jaw-dropping 20 lengths when making his first two-turn appearance Friday afternoon at Keeneland. For the effort, the striking chestnut colt...

1st-Woodbine, C$76,593, Msw, 10-10, 2yo, 1 1/16m (AWT), 1:47.62, ft, 2 lengths. SILENT TACTIC (c, 2, Tacitus--Magical Sign, by Gun Runner) survived an inquiry to become the fifth winner for his freshman sire (by Tapit) Friday. Breaking from the rail, the 9-2 shot spotted the field a step and stayed inside as a group stacked up on the lead into the clubhouse turn. Sitting a length back in third through fractions of :23.67 and :50.15, the OBS April grad had to be tipped out for a clear path to come...

LEXINGTON, KY -- The Keeneland September Yearling Sale marched into Book 3 Saturday with no signs of slackening of its torrid pace as the auction's fifth session continued to produce double-digit gains over last year's figures. During the opening Book 3 session, 278 yearlings sold for $61,799,000. The session average was $222,299--up 26.69% from last year's corresponding figure--and the median of $300,000 was up 20%. The buy-back rate ticked down to 26.43% from 28.62% a year ago. "Today marks the fifth consecutive session in which we've set a record, an...

by Jessica Martini & Christina Bossinakis SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - The record-smashing Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale steam rolled to its conclusion Tuesday night, setting highwater marks for every metric and culminating with a head-turning gross of $100,715,000. At the close of business, 160 yearlings had sold for an average of $629,469 and median of $450,000--numbers which dwarfed records set just last year when 154 yearlings grossed $82,160,000 for an average of $533,506 and a median of $425,000. It was the third straight year of across-the-board statistical records at the Saratoga sale....

All eyes were on Flushing Meadows (Wootton Bassett) in Thursday's G3 Japan Racing Association Tyros Stakes, but it was John Oxley's North Coast (Starman) who proved clear best in Leopardstown's seven-furlong staging post. Runner-up to another Ballydoyle colt in Daytona in the Listed Pat Smullen Stakes earlier this month, the Joseph O'Brien-trained 3-1 favourite led at every step under Dylan Browne McMonagle and readily saw off the 30-100 favourite to win by six lengths. "We felt we'd make the favourite work for it and he was aggressive and strong at...

Darling My Darling (Deputy Minister) was humanely euthanized at Fawn Leap Farm outside Midway, Kentucky Monday, according to Debby Oxley, who phoned the TDN with the news. In a remarkable achievement in last year's Kentucky Derby, Darling My Darling was the granddam of both the second- and third-place finishers, Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) and Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}). The pair ran first and third in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic last fall. "She's 28 years old and she is brought in every night and on Monday morning, they...