Silent Tactic, the Arkansas Derby (G1) runner-up, has been scratched from Saturday’s $5 million Kentucky Derby (G1) with a bruised foot, allowing also-eligible Great White to move into the field.
Trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse, Silent Tactic was listed at 20-1 on the morning line and had drawn the No. 13 post.
So, it’s time for handicappers to regroup, forget about the deep closer Silent Tactic, and consider a late arrival at long odds, leaving from the far outside post.
“It’s a bruise that he’s dealt with for a long time,” Casse told drf.com. “Just not 100 percent happy with it. It’s very slight, but you can’t run in the Derby and not be 100 percent. So, we’re going to work on it and hope to try to make the Preakness Stakes.”
Silent Tactic, winner of the Southwest Stakes (G3) and runner-up in the Rebel Stakes (G2), returned from a Wednesday morning jog, and Casse noticed the bruise.
The scratch puts Great White in the 20-horse field. Listed at 50-1 on the morning line as the first also-eligible, the gelded son of Volatile finished fifth in the Blue Grass Stakes (G1), more than 22 lengths behind the winner Further Ado.
Horses in posts 14-20 will move up one gate, and Great White will break from the No. 20 post. For now, that puts Further Ado (a 6-1 co-second choice) in post 17, the one post that has yet to produce a Derby winner.
The Blue Grass was Great White’s first race over a dirt surface, having gone 2-for-3 on the synthetic surface at Turfway Park, including a win in the John Battaglia Stakes.
Great White has been training at Churchill Downs, with trainer John Ennis hopeful his horse would get into the field.
“He’s doing fantastic,” Ennis said. “He galloped a mile-and-a-half and really picked it up late. I’m happy with how he is moving over the track.”
This will be Ennis’ second Derby starter: Epic Ride finished 14th in 2024. Alex Achard will be aboard Great White – his first Derby mount.
In Kentucky Oaks news, trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. scratched My Miss Mo out of Friday’s Kentucky Oaks (G1), allowing Nycon to draw into the field.
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