Strategic Risk Dominates Smarty Jones Stakes in Impressive Victory

Trainer Mark Casse continued his remarkable performance during the 2025-2026 Oaklawn meeting on Saturday, securing a 1-2 finish in the $250,000 Smarty Jones Stakes for 3-year-olds. The race marked the first of four Kentucky Derby qualifying events, and Strategic Risk emerged as the clear winner, capturing a 4½-length victory over his stablemate Silent Tactic.

Javier Castellano rode Strategic Risk to victory, taking command on the outside as they turned for home. The win was a significant achievement, with both the top finishers owned by John Oxley. Strategic Risk earned a substantial number of Kentucky Derby qualifying points, following the 10-5-3-2-1 scale for the top five finishers.

Baytown Dreamer, an 84-1 longshot, finished third, just three-quarters of a length behind Silent Tactic. Silent Tactic made his dirt debut in this race, showing promise despite the challenges. Sleepingonfreedom came in fourth, followed by Rancho Santa Fe, who had previously been unbeaten. Scar Ship, Universe, and Oscar’s Hope completed the field. Boca Beach Club was scratched, reducing the starting field to eight.

Strategic Risk, who started at $7, maintained a steady pace behind front-runner Scar Ship through the first half-mile, which took a pedestrian 49.72 seconds. He then pulled away in the stretch, finishing the 1 1/16-mile race in 1:45.06 over a fast track.

This victory marked the fourth stakes win for Casse during the meet, pushing his overall record to 11 wins out of 23 starts through the first 12 days of the 64-day split season. Strategic Risk, an Oxley homebred, now has three wins from six lifetime starts. Bred in Florida by Noble Bird and out of the Afleet Alex mare Strategize, he has earned $392,300 in prize money. His previous win came in the restricted In Reality division of the Florida Sire Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on November 29 at Gulfstream Park.

Casse plans to direct Strategic Risk toward the $1-million Southwest Stakes (G3) on January 31 at Oaklawn.

Saturday’s event saw an estimated attendance of 15,000, with total mutuel handle reaching $12,407,361.79. The 13-day Holiday racing season at Oaklawn concludes on Sunday.

Quotes from Key Figures

Trainer Mark Casse (winner Strategic Risk and runner-up Silent Tactic):

“I communicated this morning back and forth with Javier. I told him, looking at everything, I said: ‘I don’t think they can beat him.’ We felt pretty confident going in. I thought his last race, I know that he didn’t beat a lot in the Stallion Stakes, but the way he did it and the ease he did it with, I just felt like he was going to be tough. Now, midway through the card, I communicated with Javier again and said: ‘Boy oh boy, speed is very tough.’ He said: ‘Yeah, I know, I’m worried about that.’ But once they broke and he was where he was, I always thought he was a winner. I just watched the replay and the horse that ran a heck of a race was Silent Tactic because he got bothered two or three times down the backside. They just made it tight on him. He came running. That was his first dirt race, so I think he’ll move forward as well.”

Jockey Javier Castellano (Strategic Risk):

“I really liked the way today, especially in the post parade, the way he warmed up. Very comfortable and a very happy horse. Felt like he was a strong horse and feeling good. He broke good out of the gate. I used him enough to get position. It seemed like two or three horses had the main speed. I thought I might go and be behind the speed, but I saw only one horse go for the lead (Scar Ship). He dictated the pace and I just followed him every step. Felt comfortable and happy that he was where he wanted to be. It seemed to me the pace wasn’t too fast. I just enjoyed the ride. Turning for home, when I asked him, he just took off. I liked the way he finished. He galloped out beautifully. His stride was strong and steady. Enjoyed the ride. Very happy to be here.”

Fifth-place Jockey Florent Geroux (Rancho Santa Fe):

“Just broke a touch slow. He’s not the quickest away from the gate, but the pace was very slow. I was right next to the runner-up (Silent Tactic) and he just pretty much pushed me out of the way at the three-eighths pole and went on to be second.”

Seventh-place Jockey Joel Rosario (Universe):

“It seemed like it was OK at one point on the backside. After that, he just kind of had a hard time kind of maybe handling the track. It was his first time here.”