SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Honestly, Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse didn't know what he was going to get from Silent Tactic (Tacitus) when he sent him to the GII Jim Dandy Stakes on the first day of August.It was his first race since March.The colt had battled a foot problem all spring.He was going up against two of the titans in the division in Renegade (Into Mischief) and Commandment (Into Mischief).“I went into it thinking if we got beat eight lengths to those horses, it would be a good thing,” Casse said outside his barn at the Saratoga backstretch Wednesday morning. “Then, at about the eighth pole, I was thinking he might win this thing.”Silent Tactic, owned by John Oxley and ridden by Luis Saez, did not win but he ran well, finishing third, 2 1/2 lengths behind Renegade and two lengths off Commandment.Not a bad effort at all and now, it's full speed ahead to the $1.25-million GI Travers Stakes a week from Saturday.Wednesday, Silent Tactic worked five furlongs in 1:01.34 (2/7) with Edwin Soto on his back. They worked in company with 4-year-old filly Nerazurri (Protonico) and Reynaldo Dumont. She is being pointed to the $500,000 GI Personal Ensign on Travers Day.Silent Tactic is never going to blow anyone away with his morning works, but Casse liked what he saw from him Wednesday.“I was going to breeze him a half and then I decided to go five-eighths because he is not exceptionally fast,” he said. “I wanted him to get a little blow and get something out of it. If you watched him work, you would think he is a $25,000 claimer.”Before the Jim Dandy, Silent Tactic was last seen running second behind Renegade in the GI Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn on March 28. Nagging problems with a foot knocked him out of the GI Kentucky Derby and then the GI Preakness Stakes.Casse decided then to aim for a Saratoga summer campaign and here they are.The bruised foot is behind them, and the Travers is in full view in front of them.“I definitely came away from the Jim Dandy feeling the best I have ever felt about him,” Casse said. “I feel very good about him going into next week.”It's Always a Long Walk for ShisospicyEvery morning, Shisospicy (Mitole) takes a long walk to work.The 4-year-old filly, trained by Jose D'Angelo, is led out of her stall at Clare Court and begins the journey to the Oklahoma Training Track, which is about a 20-minute walk. She is accompanied by exercise rider Jose Rivera and assistant trainer Angel Ayala and, when he's here, D'Angelo.Shisospicy in a recent work on the Oklahoma | Sarah AndrewThe trainer flies into Saratoga whenever Shisospicy works. He comes from wherever he happens to be with his other divisions– California, Florida, Kentucky or Virginia.The 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' has had three works on the Oklahoma this summer, the most recent being Sunday when she went four furlongs in :47.95 (1/50).It would be much easier to just head over to the main track to work or gallop as it is a stone's throw from Clare Court to the main. But the Oklahoma is where Shisospicy trained last summer when D'Angelo was stabled there.“She trained there every day last year and I like that track because it is a little deeper (than the main),” D'Angelo said. “It is a very good place for her to get fit.”That worked out well because Shisospicy was the champion female sprinter of 2025 after she became the first 3-year-old filly to win the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. She also won the G2 Music City Stakes against 3-year-old fillies at Kentucky Downs.Just as she did last year, D'Angelo is using Saratoga as a summer springboard to the fall. Shisospicy did not run here last year but trained here following a dismal 15th place finish in the G1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot.This year, Shisospicy was on the shelf early with an infection and, once she got back to training, she finished last in the GII Unbridled Sidney Stakes at Churchill Downs on May 1, Kentucky Oaks Day. She came out of that race “very, very sick,” D'Angelo said, and that necessitated some time off at Gainesway Farm in Kentucky.D'Angelo hopes another summer at the Spa propels her to another strong fall. Shisospicy's next race could come in an allowance race at Churchill Downs in the middle of September to prepare her to defend her title at the Breeders' Cup at Keeneland.“She has been special since day one, she just does things different than other horses,” D'Angelo said. “We are not too far to get to the place we want to get with her. I am very happy with her progress.”Shisospicy has won six of 10 career starts and has a second and a third. Her career earnings are $2,095,270.“She is the kind of horse that makes you wake up earlier,” D'Angelo said, “because you want to see her.”He said it depends on “how she runs” but there are plans to run Shisospicy, owned by Morplay Racing LLC, next year. The long-range goal would be to make a trip to the Middle East, something that could not happen this year.Twinkle Town on Track for the HopefulIf his first two starts are any indication, the future is bright for the aptly named Twinkle Town (Take Charge Indy), a 2-year-old colt in the barn of Kenny McPeek.Owned by Four G Racing, LLC, Twinkle Town has won both his starts by a combined 12 1/4 lengths, The most recent was the GII Saratoga Special Stakes on Aug. 1 when Twinkle Town and jockey Jose Ortiz came home a six-length winner in the 6 1/2-furlong race.Twinkle Town in the paddock just prior to the Saratoga Special | Sarah AndrewWhat looms on the horizon is the seven-furlong $300,000 GI Hopeful Stakes on Sept. 6, the final Sunday of the Saratoga meet.“He has such early natural speed,” McPeek said outside his barn. “I do think he is a horse that wants to go longer. You can't make a horse go :21 and :45 (seconds, the fractions Twinkle Town ran in the Saratoga Special), and that is certainly not in my style. He is just fast.”Four G Racing is comprised of Lance Gasaway, Daniel Hamby III and Valley View Farm and they owned 2024 GI Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan (Goldencents), also trained by McPeek.Twinkle Town is the nickname of Star City, a small rural town in Lincoln County in Arkansas where Gasaway lives. He, along with fiancé Bobbi Jo Harris, were in Saratoga for the Saratoga Special and are expected back for the Hopeful.“They are on a bit of a roll,” McPeek said of Gasaway's group, which also bred Twinkle Town. “It's a tough game, but when you get a good horse, it's a lot of fun.”The group hopes the good times continue to roll in the Hopeful. After that, there is the Breeders' Cup to think about that, and dare say, is it too early to start thinking about next spring?“Well, not really,” McPeek said. “I think you can expect that, assuming he stays healthy, he will be competitive at a high level all fall. Next spring is another deal. We will have to retool him from a sprinter to a route of ground.”The post Saratoga Notebook, presented by NYRA Bets: Casse Feeling Good about Silent Tactic as He Works Toward Travers appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.