Delgados say Mage’s success is just the beginning for them

Trainer Gustavo Delgado did not only think he could win the Kentucky Derby when he left his native Venezuela in 2014 to begin that quest. He was convinced he could.

He had swept the Triple Crown three times in his homeland. He was so accomplished he had earned enshrinement in the Caribbean Hall of Fame. He had watched Canonero II shock the world in the 1971 Kentucky Derby and drew inspiration from that.

When he told his son of his grand plan, Gustavo Delgado Jr. never doubted his father. They both believed a dream that seemed impossible to outsiders could come true.

And in 2023 it did.

Florida Derby runner-up Mage, largely dismissed at 15-1 as he made only his fourth career start, became the toast of Venezuela when he staged a prolonged rally to win the 149th Derby.

“It’s proof that when you set your mind to one thing and you think about how you can do it instead of thinking about whether you can, it changes everything,” Delgado Jr. said.

“That was always the mindset. ‘How can we do this?’ We were looking for it. We were talking about it. There wasn’t a day where we weren’t pointed toward the Kentucky Derby.”

Their success story began with a gut feeling. Because of previous purchases, Delgado instructed his son and bloodstock agent Ramiro Restrepo to limit their bidding to $100,000 for another horse at Fasig-Tipton’s Midlantic 2-year-olds in training sale.

When Mage, a son of Good Magic, entered the ring, the two younger men were captivated by him. They felt they had to do whatever was necessary to take the striking juvenile home. After making a winning bid of $290,000, they quickly recruited Sam Herzberg of Sterling Racing and Commonwealth, which sells micro-shares in horses, as partners to offset their budget deficit.

The Delgados’ horsemanship took over after that. Rather than hurry Mage into action in an effort to quickly recoup their investment, they gave him time to mature. He went unraced at 2.

After Mage made a winning debut going seven furlongs on Jan. 28 at his Gulfstream Park home base, it was time to put the pedal to the metal. He was asked to step up to the Fountain of Youth (G2), and he responded by finishing a solid fourth. Then it was another step up to the Florida Derby (G1), where he was second to Forte. Then a series of lengthy works set up everything for the first Saturday in May.

The Derby is always about a still-maturing 3-year-old putting it all together for the most important race of his life. That is what happened with Mage. He brightened with the move from Florida to the cooler weather in Louisville. He relished the surface at Churchill Downs.

“When the race is over and when you look back, you knew you were going to win it,” Delgado said. “All of the stars started to align. You see it happening. You feel it happening.”

Mage suffered from a lack of pace in finishing third in the Preakness. He took second in the Haskell Invitational (G1) but went off form after that when he wound up a distant seventh behind Belmont winner Arcangelo in the Travers (G1). That would be the last start of his fleeting career. It was announced in late November that he had been retired to Airdrie Stud in Midway, Ky.

Although the connections had hoped for more, Restrepo called it “a monster blessing of a year” and added, “that horse just did so much for us beyond the first Saturday in May.”

Restrepo noted an increase in his buying power that allowed him to be active at sales in France, Ireland and England. The Delgados continue to maintain a relatively small operation of 20 horses or so, but they significantly upgraded their quality.

Delgado said six colts and six fillies are on the verge of turning 3. They also have promising yearlings in the pipeline.

“I’m very excited about the horses we have now.”