Mage took over leaving the eighth pole behind and carried his Hall of Fame rider across the wire for a long-overdue first Kentucky Derby win from 16 mounts. Two Phil's knuckled down admirably down the stretch, but began to feel the impact of the scorching early pace close to home. Two Phil's punched his way through an inviting opening along the rail on the far turn and kicked for home leading the way to the roar of 150,335 as Mage and GI Arkansas Derby winner Angel of Empire were beginning to launch on the far outside.Ĭastellano had Mage completely rolling at this point and entered the stretch in the seven path with dead aim on leader. Jockey Javier Castellano, ahem, began to work his magic from the back of the pack as Mage sliced his way through traffic. The GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks winner Two Phil's and Jareth Loveberry, meanwhile, raced just behind the leaders in fourth while Mage only had three horses beaten heading into the backstretch. Verifying ( Justify), Kingsbarns ( Uncle Mo) and Reincarnate ( Good Magic) all had running on their minds and led the field of 18 through blazing opening fractions of :22.35 and :45.73. and ran too good to lose after unleashing an explosive five-wide rally on the far turn and leading in deep stretch last time in the Florida Derby. 28, Mage was an unlucky fourth after an impossible trip while making his two-turn debut in the GII Fountain of Youth S. The filly Regret did it way back in 1915, dual Classic winner Big Brown ended the drought in 2008 and Triple Crown winner Justify pulled it off most recently in 2018.Ī front-running debut winner sprinting at Gulfstream Jan. Mage joins some very exclusive company to win the Derby while making just his fourth career start. “Myself as a bloodstock agent, who has been trying to increase his profile as well, we kind of combined forces three years ago to start buying horses domestically and internationally and try to invest a little money and use the relationships that I have here to bring in people that are willing to have the faith to go forward with us and take the swing.” as a trainer has had so much success in South America, and he has come here and has always had a small boutique stable, and has always wanted to increase his presence to have more quality horses with a lot more owners. I mean, it's one heck of a melting pot that came together for this horse. The ownership group is four different groups from four different backgrounds, all different age ranges, nationalities. Restrepo, Fasig-Tipton's South Florida Field Representative and owner of Marquee Bloodstock, added, “The emotions are just through the roof, obviously. And he was telling me step by step what he was doing with the horse. “I felt so confident going into this race, because my dad was the trainer. “It's an amazing feeling,” winning co-owner and assistant trainer Gustavo Delgado, Jr. He is trained by Venezuela native Delgado.Ī three-time winner of his home country's equivalent of the Triple Crown, Delgado's previous Grade I winners on these shores include Paola Queen (Flatter) and Bodexpress (Bodemeister). Mage, a $235,000 KEESEP yearling turned $290,000 EASMAY breezer, is campaigned in partnership by Gustavo Delgado's OGMA Investments, LLC, Ramiro Restrepo, Sam Herzberg's Sterling Racing LLC and Brian Doxtator and Chase Chamberlin's CMNWLTH. Kentucky Derby morning-line favorite Forte ( Violence), a length ahead of Mage in the final Gulfstream prep, was withdrawn on the morning of the race with a foot issue, the well-documented fifth defection from the 1 1/4-mile Classic. 'TDN Rising Star' Disarm ( Gun Runner) rounded out the superfecta in fourth. Lukewarm 4-1 favorite Angel of Empire ( Classic Empire) also came flying from far back to finish another half-length back in third. The lightly raced GI Curlin Florida Derby runner-up, off at odds of 15-1, took advantage of a torrid early pace and rallied from as far back as 16th to reel in a very game Two Phil's ( Hard Spun) by a length. – Abracadabra: Mage ( Good Magic) is your 149th winner of the GI Kentucky Derby.
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