Oaklawn Park’s program for 3-year-olds will ramp up when the Hot Springs, Ark., track returns from break at the end of the month. Trainer Mark Casse has some notable runners awaiting the Grade 3, $1 million Southwest Stakes and the $300,000 Martha Washington on Jan. 31. Strategic Risk and Silent Tactic, who ran one-two for Casse in the $250,000 Smarty Jones on Sunday, are both candidates for the Southwest, a points race for the Kentucky Derby. Counting Stars, who won an overnight stakes and the Year’s End during the holiday meet, and the promising Search Party are both targeting the Martha Washington, which carries points for the Kentucky Oaks. Strategic Risk was a 4 1/2-length winner of the Smarty Jones, one start after a nine-length win in the In Reality division of the Florida Sire Stakes at Gulfstream Park. “I thought he was impressive,” Casse said. “Obviously, speed was tough. We were concerned about that. He was able to lay close enough to the pace and came home – obviously a slow pace – but came home the last three-eighths very nice and then galloped out strong. I just think the farther the better for him. “Right now, the plan would be to come back in the Southwest.” :: Live racing action at Oaklawn Park! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Strategic Risk is a John Oxley homebred by the Birdstone stallion Noble Bird, who won the Grade 1 Stephen Foster, Grade 2 Fayette, and Grade 3 Pimlico Special for earnings of $1.3 million. Strategic Risk has now registered two of his three career wins in route races. For his win in the Smarty Jones, he earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 87. “His numbers continue to improve, and that’s what you’re looking for,” Casse said. “You’re looking for horses that want more ground and are improving. He obviously has to continue to improve if he’s going to be a serious [Kentucky] Derby contender.” Casse believes the potential is there, based in part on genetics. “He has a very interesting pedigree,” he said. “I trained his dad. His dad was a good horse, and had he not gotten hurt as a 2-year-old, I think he would have been a Derby horse. He was a Grade 1 winner. He had the track record at Pimlico for a while going a mile and three-sixteenths. “And then you go to the bottom side and [Strategic Risk’s] mother is by Afleet Alex and the second dam is by A.P. Indy. It’s a Phipps family. The third dam is Educated Risk. It’s a really strong family, so he has every right to be a good horse. And like I said, he’s improving. He’s obviously going to have to run against tougher, but we’re on the right track.” :: Get the Inside Track with the FREE DRF Morning Line Email Newsletter. Subscribe now.  Silent Tactic closed from last in the Smarty Jones, one start after finishing second in the Grade 3 Grey at Woodbine. A son of Tacitus, Silent Tactic also races for Oxley. “He ran really well,” Casse said. “He’s a beautiful horse. There really wasn’t a whole lot left for him [at Woodbine], and Mr. Oxley and I talked about it and we said, ‘Well, let’s give him a try on the dirt. He’s bred for the dirt.’ And so we sent him to Oaklawn. “He ran actually better than it looks. Again, speed was pretty dominant. He kind of got bothered about two or three times in the race, got him back a little farther, horses weren’t rallying, and he was able to do that. The other thing is, it was his first dirt try, so I think he’ll improve. We’re going to look at the Southwest. I could see him running in the Southwest.” Counting Stars opened the Oaklawn meet with a four-length win in the $135,000 Astral Spa overnight stakes at six furlongs. She came back and won her two-turn debut in the $150,000 Year’s End, rolling home by six lengths to improve her record to 3 for 4. “She’s amazing,” Casse said of the filly who is owned by West Point Thoroughbreds. “Obviously, we like her a lot. I wanted to get the two-turn race into her and I didn’t want to wait until the Martha Washington to do that. It worked out well and she was very impressive. She had a wide trip and she just ran around everybody. She’s going to come back in the Martha Washington, as is Search Party, a Gun Runner filly who broke her maiden very impressively.” Search Party earned a Beyer of 81 for a maiden special weight route win on Dec. 27 at Oaklawn. She races for her breeder, Tracy Farmer. Casse went 11 for 23 during the holiday meet for a 48 percent win rate. He also was 83 percent in the money with his starters, and overall his trainees earned $821,569. “I just sent horses out there that I thought would fit really well,” Casse said. “It doesn’t happen often, but it worked out.” Racing at Oaklawn resumes on Jan. 30. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.