Kentucky Derby 2023: Mage, Reincarnate both breeze

Florida Derby runner-up Mage and Sham Stakes winner Reincarnate both recorded timed workouts on Saturday morning as they prepared for expected starts in Kentucky Derby 2023.

Mage, a lightly raced son of Good Magic, breezed six furlongs in 1:14.78 Saturday morning at Gulfstream Park. 

Trained by Gustavo Delgado and owned by OGMA Investments, Ramiro Restrepo, Sterling Racing and CMNWLTH, the colt galloped out a mile.

“He worked good. We liked what we saw. Everything is going to plan, thank God,” said assistant trainer Gustavo Delgado Jr.

A jockey has yet to be named to ride Mage in the Derby.

Mage, a $290,000 purchase at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-olds in training sale, is scheduled to ship Sunday to Churchill Downs to finish his preparation for a run in the Kentucky Derby.

“We just want him to get to know the track. We don’t expect to do very much there, fitness-wise,” Delgado Jr. said. “He should be ready after this work. Every day is crucial. We’ll take it day by day, but we like the position we’re in right now.”

Mage turned in an eye-catching debut at Gulfstream Jan. 28 while romping to a 3 3/4-length victory in a seven-furlong maiden special weight race. He subsequently showed a lot of grit while finishing fourth behind Forte in the Fountain of Youth (G2), in which he experienced gate trouble, bumping and a wide trip.

Mage, who collected 40 points for his runner-up Florida Derby finish and 10 points for his Fountain of Youth effort, sits 16th on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard, assuring the Kentucky-bred colt a stall in the starting gate for the first leg of the 2023 Triple Crown at Churchill Downs.

A bit later in the morning at Santa Anita, Sham Stakes (G3) winner Reincarnate, who finished third this year in both the Rebel Stakes (G3) and the Arkansas Derby (G1) at Oaklawn, worked five furlongs in company for trainer Tim Yakteen.

Hitting the main track right after the 6:30 a.m. renovation break, the son of Good Magic completed the work in 1:01.0. It was his second work since a third-place finish in the Arkansas Derby (G1) at Oaklawn Park on April 1.

“He worked great. Looked really good this morning,” Yakteen said.

Reincarnate, who is 19th on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard, will be ridden in the Derby by John Velaquez, who was aboard for both the Rebel and Arkansas Derby.

Reincarnate has won twice from seven starts and earned more than $345,000 for owners SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Robert Masterson Stonestreet Stables, Jay Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital and Catherine Donovan.

Both wins came when the colt was trained by Bob Baffert. Reincarnate was transferred to Yakteen prior to the Rebel Stakes because Baffert remains suspended by Churchill Downs and his horses are ineligible to earn Kentucky Derby qualifying points.

Set to join Reincarnate in the Kentucky Derby starting gate on May 6 at Churchill Downs is stablemate Practical Move, winner of the Santa Anita Derby (G1) here April 8. Practical Move worked on Friday, drilling four furlongs in 47.0 seconds while in company with Kangaroo Court.

Yakteen reported Saturday morning that Practical Move and Kangaroo Court, along with multiple stakes winner Johannes who also worked Friday and is being pointed to the American Turf (G2) for 3-year-olds on the Kentucky Derby undercard, were all in good order Saturday and on track to run at Churchill Downs.

“Everyone was good this morning. Fingers crossed,” Yakteen said.

Reincarnate, Practical Move, Kangaroo Court and Johannes will all work back on Friday at Santa Anita, Yakteen said. They are scheduled to ship to Churchill Downs the following day.

One Kentucky Oaks contender also worked on Saturday morning.

Shidabhuti (Practical Joke), seventh on the Kentucky Oaks leaderboard, worked four furlongs in 49.9 seconds at Belmont Park on Saturday morning. It was the 31st fastest of 49 works at the distance. This was her first work since her last race. In her last start she placed third in the Gazelle (G3) going 1 1/8 miles on the main track at Aqueduct on April 8 for trainer Chad Brown.