Mage Rallies to Thrilling Kentucky Derby Victory

The 149th running of the Kentucky Derby (G1) featured an international field with two Japanese-trained horses, Derma Sotogake  and Mandarin Hero. But the American classic would belong to an American horse with some Venezuelan-born connections.

Before 150,335 fans at Churchill Downs May 6, Mage —a 3-year-old ridden by Venezuelan-born jockey Javier Castellano and trained by fellow countryman Gustavo Delgado—swooped to victory in America's legendary horse race, defeating Two Phil's  and favored Angel of Empire .

The win conjured memories of Venezuela hero Canonero II who stunned a packed Churchill Downs grandstand in 1971 before scoring a follow-up victory in the Preakness Stakes, the second jewel of the American Triple Crown two weeks later.

Mage did not have the humble beginnings of bargain purchase and Venezuela hero Canonero II—with Mage having cost $290,000 at public auction and prepping this year at high-profile Gulfstream Park—but his Derby win mirrored that of the upsetter 52 years earlier.

He ran similarly to Canonero II in the 1 1/4-mile race, lagging at the back of the pack, racing 16th of 18 early following a slow start before launching a wide rally on the second turn and down the stretch to catch Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) winner Two Phil's , who had darted ahead in the race's final turn to take the lead at the mile marker. Mage caught Two Phil's in midstretch and inched away late in the race's final furlong for a length win.

The victory in the $3 million race gave Javier Castellano, a four-time Eclipse Award winner and Hall of Fame jockey, an elusive first win in the Kentucky Derby in his 16th ride. As he was readying to ride the Derby, Castellano said he saw a graphic posted by NBC Sports on its television broadcast, showing he was 0-for-15 in the Derby. It served as motivation.

"I think this is the year. I'm going to break (the skid) this year and I'm gonna win that race," Castellano said. "I felt confident in myself."

It showed in his ride. After Mage broke slowly in the Derby—as the Good Magic   colt also did in two close losing efforts in Kentucky Derby-qualifying preps—Castellano allowed his mount to settle, content to linger toward the back of the field of 18.

A fast pace proved to his benefit—fractions of :22.35, :45.73, 1:10.11 took a toll on frontrunning Verifying  and pace-chasing Kingsbarns  and Reincarnate —but Mage still had many horses to pass and considerable traffic in front of him. But with Castellano deftly picking opportunities to advance, Mage moved up to sixth by the mile marker, and down the lane, the lightly raced colt did the rest, only feeling a few late strikes of Castellano's crop.

"The horse was unbelievable today," Castellano said.

Mage raced 1 1/4 miles in a moderate time of 2:01.57. He earned $1.86 million in winning the Derby, boosting his earnings to over $2.1 million, accomplished with a record of 2-1-0 in four starts. Following a Jan. 28 maiden win, he had been fourth in the March 4 Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) behind Forte  and second to that rival in the April 1 Florida Derby (G1).

He joins Regret (1915), Big Brown   (2008), and Justify   (2018) as the only Derby winners who had only three prior starts. Mage, Justify, and Apollo (1882) are the only horses to win the Derby without having raced as 2-year-olds.

Perhaps due to that inexperience, he paid $32.42 to win as the betting eighth choice in the field, which lost its morning-line favorite Forte  in a high-profile scratch Saturday morning. In total, five Derby horses were scratched amid tight veterinary scrutiny. Three alternates, also-eligibles, joined the Derby lineup.

Eighteen 3-year-olds started the Derby, the smallest field since 15 started in the 2020 Derby, which was delayed until September and contested without fans because of COVID-19 precautions and protocols.

The Derby was run without any apparent major injuries, a welcome relief for observers after two horses were euthanized following injuries sustained in racing action earlier on the card. There have been seven known equine fatalities at Churchill Downs since April 27.

Two Phil's ran well in defeat, the only horse to race within a few lengths off the hot pace to finish among the top five.

His jockey, Jareth Loveberry, grew excited when Two Phil's struck the front with a quarter of a mile remaining, hearing the crowd roar in excitement. He said he made a "slight early move" to capitalize on an opening that left his mount clear to run.

"I'm looking down the stretch, I hear all the noise, and I'm like, 'I'm gonna win this race,'" he said. "I never looked behind me. I never looked at the (infield) TV. I'm just like, let's get to that wire, let's get to the wire. And as soon as I tried to get a little bit more, I looked under my shoulder, I felt (Mage) coming."

"He gave me everything," he said of the Larry Rivelli-trained Two Phil's.

Angel of Empire, the Arkansas Derby (G1) winner and the tepid 4-1 favorite over 9-2 shot Tapit Trice , raced far behind along with the winner early. He finished well, beaten a length and a half by Mage.

He ran the best of trainer Brad Cox's four entrants, with his other horses, Hit Show , Verifying and Jace's Road  finishing fifth, 16th and 17th, respectively.

Flavien Prat, the rider of Angel of Empire, offered no excuse related to his trip, saying only that he wanted to sit closer to the pace but that his mount did not have the speed to keep up.

Two-time Derby-winning trainer Todd Pletcher, whose champion Forte was scratched due to concerns by a regulatory veterinarian related to a bruise in the colt's right front foot, saw his two Derby horses, Tapit Trice and Kingsbarns , finish seventh and 14th.

The Japanese horses, Derma Sotogake and Mandarin Hero, settled for sixth and 12th.

Delgado, a four-time Venezuelan Triple Crown-winning trainer, said he was "very happy to win this Kentucky Derby," for Mage, the horse's connections and his family. 

The winner, bred in Kentucky by Grandview Equine, races for OGMA Investments, Ramiro Restrepo, Sterling Racing and Commonwealth Thoroughbreds—a micro-shares partnership. They joined together after Restrepo and Delgado acquired the colt above their initial budget from the Sequel Bloodstock consignment at Fasig-Tipton's Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale last May.

Commonwealth Thoroughbreds' Chase Chamberlin said the victory exemplified the thrills that racing partnerships can provide.

"This is what racing is all about. It's the only sport in the world where an animal can take a million people for a ride or in our case 382 people," Chamberlin said.

The colt, out of the Big Brown mare Puca , had initially sold for $235,000 to New Team from the Runnymede Farm consignment at the 2021 September Yearling Sale at Keeneland.

"The ownership group is four different groups from four different backgrounds, all different age ranges, nationalities," Restrepo said. "I mean, it's one heck of a melting pot that came together for this horse."

Mage is the second black-type horse out of his dam's four foals, the other being a stakes-placed Gun Runner   filly named Gunning . The dam, a stakes-winning half sister to grade 1 winner Finnegans Wake , has a 2-year-old full brother to Mage and a yearling colt by McKinzie  .

Mage succeeded where his sire fell just short. Good Magic, the champion 2-year-old male of 2017, was second in the 2018 Derby.

Restrepo said he has worked with Delgado to grow the South Florida-based trainer's stable and his bloodstock business.

"This is a game that there's so many successful people that are buying in bulk at the highest end of the sport," Restrepo said. "And I feel like they have unlimited bullets, and I have a musket. We have a musket, so when we buy, we almost can't miss."

Since relocating to South Florida in 2014, Delgado ran two horses previously in the Derby without success: Majesto , who finished 18th in 2016 and eventual grade 1 winner Bodexpress  , the 13th-place finisher in 2019.

Even long ago, Delgado always believed he could have success in the American Triple Crown, just as he did in his native Venezuela, said his son and assistant, Gustavo Delgado Jr. He pointed to the success of Canonero II that gave his father belief as a young man.

"He grew up in a generation where everybody was talking about it. And he always felt like he could accomplish that," the younger Delgado recalled. "I remember when I was a kid, because when he was successful down in Venezuela, he would always tell me, ‘One day, we should go to the States and win one of those races.’”

Saturday at Churchill Downs, they did just that.

Two more legs of the Triple Crown take place over the next five weeks: the May 20 Preakness Stakes (G1) at 1 3/16 miles and the June 10 Belmont Stakes (G1) at 1 1/2 miles. Just 13 horses have won the American Triple Crown, the most recent being Justify  .

Video: Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1)