Mage ( foaled April 18, 2020) is an American

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

racehorse who won the

2023 Kentucky Derby The 2023 Kentucky Derby (officially the 2023 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve) was the 149th running of the Kentucky Derby. It took place on May 6, 2023, the first Saturday in May, in Louisville, Kentucky. The race was open to 20 h ...

Background

Mage is a chestnut colt bred in Kentucky by Grandview Equine. His sire Good Magic was the U.S. Champion Two-Year-Old in 2017 after he won the 2017

Breeders' Cup Juvenile The Breeders' Cup Juvenile is a Thoroughbred horse race for 2-year-old colts and geldings raced on dirt. It is held annually in late October or early November at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup W ...

as a maiden; in 2018 he finished second in the Kentucky Derby. His dam, Puca, is a daughter of Big Brown. Mage was initially sold for $235,000 to New Team from the Runnymede Farm consignment at the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Mage is the second black-type horse out of his dam's four foals, the other being a stakes-placed

Gun Runner Arms trafficking or gunrunning is the illicit trade of contraband small arms and ammunition, which constitutes part of a broad range of illegal activities often associated with transnational criminal organizations. The illegal trade of small ...

filly named Gunning. The dam, a stakes-winning half sister to Grade I winner Finnegans Wake, has a 2-year-old full brother to Mage and a yearling colt by McKinzie. Mage is a descendent of

Darley Arabian The Darley Arabian (foaled c. 1700) was one of three dominant foundation sires of modern Thoroughbred horse racing bloodstock. The other two founders were the Godolphin Arabian and the Byerley Turk. This bay Arabian horse was bought in Aleppo, ...

. He is trained by Gustavo Delgado, a four-time

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

n Triple Crown-winning trainer. Mage is owned by OGMA Investments, Ramiro Restrepo, Sterling Racing and Commonwealth Thoroughbreds. Commonwealth Thoroughbreds is a micro-shares partnership that formed after Restrepo and Delgado acquired the colt above their initial budget from the Sequel Bloodstock consignment at Fasig-Tipton's Midlantic Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale in May 2022, having cost $290,000.

Career

Mage began his career as a three-year-old on January 28, 2023, with a victory in his first start, a Maiden Special Weight event over seven furlongs at

Gulfstream Park Gulfstream Park, owned by The Stronach Group, is a Thoroughbred race track, casino and outdoor entertainment and shopping destination in Hallandale Beach, Florida. Thoroughbred horse racing occurs year-round, defined by three distinct race meets ...

. His next start was in the Grade II Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park where he finished fourth by about seven lengths to the 2022 US Champion Two-Year-Old

Forte Forte or Forté may refer to: Music *Forte (music), a musical dynamic meaning "loudly" or "strong" * Forte number, an ordering given to every pitch class set * Forte (notation program), a suite of musical score notation programs * Forte (vocal ...

. Four weeks later, Mage entered the

Grade I In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Florida Derby The Florida Derby is an American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old horses held annually at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida. Since 2005, it has been run five weeks before the Kentucky Derby, which is held on the first Sat ...

where he finished second to

after leading in the straight, beaten by a length. Trainer Gustavo Delgado indicated, "(Mage) might have gotten tired but remember, it's still his third race. How many races did it take Forte to get to the level he is?" Mage collected 40 qualification points on the 2023 Road to the Kentucky Derby and with his fourth in the Fountain of Youth Stakes qualified to start in the Kentucky Derby.

Kentucky Derby

Mage broke slowly in the Derby as he did in his previous two close losing efforts. Jockey

Javier Castellano Javier Castellano (born October 23, 1977, in Maracaibo, Zulia State, Venezuela) is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing. Castellano began his riding career in 1996 at Santa Rita and La Rinconada racecourses in Venezuela. In June 1997 ...

allowed his mount to settle toward the back of the field of 18. A fast pace proved to his benefit, with fractions of :22.35, :45.73, and 1:10.11 set by frontrunners Verifying, Kingsbarns, and Reincarnate. Castellano picked his opportunities to advance and had Mage up to sixth by the mile marker. Down the lane, the lightly raced colt caught leader Two Phil's to win by a length in a final time of 2:01.57. At post-time, Mage went off at 15–1 to win. He joins

Regret Regret is the emotion of wishing one had made a different decision in the past, because the consequences of the decision were unfavorable. Regret is related to perceived opportunity. Its intensity varies over time after the decision, in regard ...

(1915), Big Brown (2008), and Justify (2018) as the only Derby winners who had only three prior starts. Mage, Justify, and

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label= Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label ...

(1882) are the only horses to win the Derby without having raced as two-year-olds.

Statistics

''Notes:''
An (*) asterisk after the odds means Mage was the post-time favourite.

Pedigree

Mage is inbred 4s × 4d to Danzig, meaning Danzig appears twice in the fourth generation, once the sire's side and once on dam's side of the pedigree. Also is inbred 4s × 5s (not shown in pedigee chart via

Miswaki Miswaki (February 22, 1978 – December 17, 2004) was an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse that was a Group One winner in France and a stakes race winner in the United States. He was an important sire of 97 stakes race winners and was the Le ...

) × 4d to Mr. Prospector.

References

{{Kentucky Derby Winners Kentucky Derby winners 2020 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United States Thoroughbred family 5-g American Grade 1 Stakes winners