Kentucky Derby Horse Profile: Mage

May 06, 2023 John Mucciolo/TwinSpires.com

OGMA Investments, LLC, Restrepo, Ramiro, Sterling Racing LLC, and CMNWLTH’s Mage ranks 16th on the 2023 Road to the Kentucky Derby challenge series leaderboard with 50 points following his fine runner-up performance in the $1 million Florida Derby (G1) at Gulfstream Park on April 1.

Mage was bred by Grandview Equine and passed through the auction ring on a pair of occasions. He fetched a bid of $235,000 at the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, prior to bringing the gavel down at $290,000 at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale.

He is the second black-type performer produced from the Grade-2 placed, stakes-winning Big Brown mare Puca, who counts herself as a half-sister to Grade 1 hero Finnegan’s Wake.

Trained by Gustavo Delgado, the late-blooming sophomore debuted at Gulfstream on January 28 and left little doubt at first asking when dominating a maiden special weight field by 3 3/4 lengths while running seven furlongs on the dirt. Mage earned a robust 101 Brisnet Speed figure in that dash, which prompted his connections to send the colt directly to the Fountain of Youth S. (G2).

The son of Good Magic gave a good account of himself in his route and stakes debut when racing close to a swift early tempo before ultimately finishing fourth behind Champion Forte. In the Florida Derby, Mage was last early prior to making a major move in the stretch to lead late, only to be upended by Forte once again. His lifetime line now reads 3-1-1-0, $247,200.

Mage is lightly raced with obvious room for improvement going forward. The three-year-old has earned Brisnet Speed figures of 101-95-99 from a trio of tries to date, but he has obstacles to overcome beneath the Twin Spires on May 6. Mage has to prove to be capable of handling another surface after running solely in South Florida to this stage of his development, he has to get faster to challenge the top contenders in the field, and will also have to display the same amount of class when traveling the grueling 1 1/4 miles at Churchill Downs.