15-1 Mage rallies to score upset in Kentucky Derby 2023

Louisville, Ky.

There is a reason legendary turf writer Steve Crist called the so-called curse of Apollo, “the granddaddy of Derby rules.”

Apollo in 1882 was for more than a century the last Kentucky Derby winner to not race as a 2-year-old. From 1937 to 2017 only three Derby horses who were unraced at 2 even finished second in the race.

Triple Crown hero Justify broke down that barrier in 2018 for his lightly raced brethren. Now Mage has joined the club.

In only his fourth start, all since Jan. 28, Mage raced to the lead Saturday and out-dueled Two Phil’s to win the 149th running of the Kentucky Derby. He scored only his second career win of any kind, and the first Derby score for trainer Gustavo Delgado and jockey Javier Castellano, both natives of Venezuela.

“Not having the experience, he proved today that it didn’t matter,” assistant trainer Gustavo Delgado Jr. said.

Mage covered 1 1/4 miles in 2:01.57, returning $32.42 on a $2 win bet at 15-1 odds. Two Phil’s and Angel of Empire, the 4-1 post-time favorite, rounded out the trifecta in the Grade 1, $3 million Derby.

The Good Magic colt Mage entered the Kentucky Derby off a second-place effort April 1 in the Florida Derby (G1). He came up a length shy that day of Forte, the juvenile champion and Derby morning-line favorite whose Saturday morning scratch shook up the Churchill Downs tote boards.

In his only other starts, Mage won his debut race Jan. 28 at Gulfstream and was fourth back there March 4 in the Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2), another race that Forte won.

“We know his talent,” Delgado Jr. said of Forte. “We respected the horse a lot coming into this race. At the end of the day, I think the horse was going to be fine, from what we have been hearing. We will face him down the line.”

Mage’s debut race came on the high-profile Pegasus World Cup card at Gulfstream. He could have started earlier in January, owner Ramiro Restrepo said, but Delgado waited to turn him loose on a big stakes day at the South Florida track.

“Could the horse have raced Jan. 7 or Jan. 4? Sure,” Restrepo said. “But Gustavo has a flare for loving to run on big days.

“It wasn't necessarily that the horse had any physical setbacks or any ailments (as a 2-year-old). … It's just that Gustavo is a patient guy and let the horse take it little by little.”

Mage, with his winning move Saturday from nearly the back of the field, did not give the impression of a horse making only his fourth lifetime start.

Off a step slow, Castellano let Mage settle in 16th place in a field of 18. Up front, the Brad Cox-trained Verifying went through fractions of 22.35, 45.73 and 1:10.11 through the first six furlongs. Mage smoothly tipped five-wide leaving the three-furlong pole and began a rally outside of rivals. He was up to sixth place a mile into the race and was second into the stretch, with only Two Phil’s to catch.

Under jockey Jareth Loveberry, Two Phil’s put in a fight but could not hold Mage at bay.

“As soon as they started racing five furlongs, six furlongs, every time we ask him, he was fast,” Delgado Jr. said. “And not just that, horse is very smart. He's quiet. And he's the kind of horse that lets you do what you want with him, not the other way around.

“And I think that's the best quality of him. Other than that, you can bump him, and he will be right there. You can see his face full of dirt. I mean, he kept grinding, and that's what I like about the horse. It gives you confidence.”

Restrepo owns Mage along with three different ownership groups, OGMA Investments, Sterling Racing and CMNWLTH. The colt was a $290,000 purchase in May 2022 at a 2-year-olds in training sale.

A Kentucky Derby triumph fills the biggest remaining gap in Castellano’s resume. The 45-year-old won the Eclipse Award as racing’s top jockey each year from 2013-16 and was inducted into racing’s Hall of Fame in 2017.

But the Kentucky Derby previously eluded Castellano, as he was 0-for-15 all-time in the race entering Saturday. The only other of his Derby runners to hit the board before Mage was third-place Audible in 2018.

Castellano was looking at a TV in the jockeys room Saturday when NBC ran a graphic about his lifetime Kentucky Derby record.

“In that moment, it give me so much inspiration (in) myself,” Castellano said. “And I think this is the year ... I'm going to win the race.”

Delgado is not a high-volume trainer as compared to the Asmussens, Coxes and Pletchers of the world who started runners Saturday in the Kentucky Derby. Entering the race, his runners had produced five victories out of 41 starters this season.

Bodexpress’s 2020 Clark Stakes (G1) victory was Delgado’s last in a graded stakes until Saturday. Delgado’s two prior Kentucky Derby starters were 18th-place runner Majesto in 2016 and Bodexpress, 13th in 2019.

“I think my dad, with the success of (1971 Kentucky Derby winner) Canonero II, as you know, Venezuelan connections that won the Derby, he grew up in a generation where everybody was talking about it,” Delgado Jr. said. “And he always felt like he could accomplish that. “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.'"

Second-place finisher Two Phil’s was the first Kentucky Derby starter for Loveberry and trainer Larry Rivelli. The two, who were long a formidable duo at the now-shuttered Arlington Park, came one length shy of scoring at 9-1 odds.

“Man, he tried so hard and ran his heart out,” Rivelli said of the Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) victor. "I’m so proud of this horse and everyone involved. He ran an incredible race.”

Angel of Empire was aiming to deliver Cox and jockey Flavien Prat their second Kentucky Derby win each. Cox with Mandaloun in 2021 and Prat on Country House in 2019 both were promoted to Derby victories due to disqualifications of those races’ first-place runners.

The Arkansas Derby (G1) and Risen Star Stakes (G2) winner Angel of Empire gained ground throughout the stretch but could only get to third, a half-length shy of Two Phil’s.

“He ran great,” Prat said. “I had a good trip. I was able to get myself behind the winner turning for home and we definitely had a great chance to win.”

Disarm outran his 27-1 odds to deliver a fourth-place finish for Steve Asmussen. North America’s all-time winningest trainer will go at least one more year seeking his breakthrough in the sport’s biggest event.

“He faced some of the best 3-year-olds in the country,” Asmussen said. “Obviously, I was hoping for a better finish today. I loved that he continued on, through it all. He was fourth today, and he’s a solid horse.”

The 149th running of the Kentucky Derby followed a week of attrition for the race’s entrants. Continuar, Lord Miles and Practical Move were all scratched Thursday and Skinner was removed from the field Friday. Then, Forte was taken out Saturday morning following a backside meeting between state veterinarian Nick Smith, trainer Todd Pletcher and owner Mike Repole that took place in front of a group of reporters.

The full order for the Kentucky Derby field, first through 18th was: Mage, Two Phil’s, Angel of Empire, Disarm, Hit Show, Derma Sotogake, Tapit Trice, Raise Cain, Rocket Can, Confidence Game, Sun Thunder, Mandarin Hero, Reincarnate, Kingsbarns, King Russell, Verifying, Jace’s Road and Cyclone Mischief.