TOP 2: MAGE

Horse Profile


Characteristics


Major Won Races


Achievements


Rankings


Retirement Plan

Horse Profile

• Foaled: April 18, 2020 
• Bred: Kentucky, USA 
• Sex: Colt 
• Debuted: 2023 
• Retirement: 2024 
• Death: N/A 
• Color and Markings: Chestnut 
• Sire: Good Magic 

• Dam: Puca 
• Owner: OGMA Investments, Ramiro Restrepo, Sterling Racing & Commonwealth Thoroughbreds 
• Breeder: Grandview Equine 
• Trainer: Gustavo Delgado 
• Primary/Regular Jockeys:  Javier Castellano; Flavien Prat (last rider) 

Characteristics

• His jockey, Castellano, reminisced about Mage as “a little horse with a big heart,” epitomizing the true spirit of a champion—tenacious, fierce, and steadfast.  
• The trainer of Mage, Gustavo Delgado Sr., lauded him not merely for his talent but for being “incredible,” a horse with a mind as mighty as his pace, a spirit as unbreakable as his gallop. 
• His running style is closer.  

Major Won Races

• 
  Kentucky Derby (2023)

Achievements

• He won the Kentucky Derby (2023) with a 103 Beyer Speed.

• Mage joined Big Brown, Regret (2015), and Justify (2018) as the only horses to win the Derby after making just three previous starts.

• Mage, Justify, and Apollo (1882) are the only Derby winners who never raced as 2-year-olds.

• He earned a 105 Beyer Speed figure and a 124 speed figure from Top TimeformUS.

Rankings

• Mage is North America’s leading 3-year-old earner for 2023, with more than $2.5 million in earnings.  
• He ranked 2nd overall by Earnings in 2023. 

Retirement Plan

• It was publicized on November 27, 2023, that Mage has officially retired from racing and will begin his stallion career at Airdrie Stud for the 2024 breeding season. 
• His much-anticipated 4-year-old championship tour was shortened after their routine end-of-the-season scan revealed that he had the beginnings of a minor issue that would require him to miss his early season goals. 
• Hailing from a dynasty of victors, the offspring of the eminent Good Magic and the distinguished Puca, Mage is poised to commence his tenure as a sire, his heritage valued at a stud fee of $25,000. 

Horse Profile

• Foaled: April 18, 2020 
• Bred: Kentucky, USA 
• Sex: Colt 
• Debuted: 2023 
• Retirement: 2024 
• Death: N/A 
• Color and Markings: Chestnut 
• Sire: Good Magic 

• Dam: Puca 
• Owner: OGMA Investments, Ramiro Restrepo, Sterling Racing & Commonwealth Thoroughbreds 
• Breeder: Grandview Equine 
• Trainer: Gustavo Delgado 
• Primary/Regular Jockeys:  Javier Castellano; Flavien Prat (last rider) 

Characteristics

• His jockey, Castellano, reminisced about Mage as “a little horse with a big heart,” epitomizing the true spirit of a champion—tenacious, fierce, and steadfast.  
• The trainer of Mage, Gustavo Delgado Sr., lauded him not merely for his talent but for being “incredible,” a horse with a mind as mighty as his pace, a spirit as unbreakable as his gallop. 
• His running style is closer.  

Major Won Races

• 
  Kentucky Derby (2023)

Achievements

• He won the Kentucky Derby (2023) with a 103 Beyer Speed.

• Mage joined Big Brown, Regret (2015), and Justify (2018) as the only horses to win the Derby after making just three previous starts.

• Mage, Justify, and Apollo (1882) are the only Derby winners who never raced as 2-year-olds.

• He earned a 105 Beyer Speed figure and a 124 speed figure from Top TimeformUS.

Rankings

• Mage is North America’s leading 3-year-old earner for 2023, with more than $2.5 million in earnings.  
• He ranked 2nd overall by Earnings in 2023. 

Retirement Plan

• It was publicized on November 27, 2023, that Mage has officially retired from racing and will begin his stallion career at Airdrie Stud for the 2024 breeding season. 
• His much-anticipated 4-year-old championship tour was shortened after their routine end-of-the-season scan revealed that he had the beginnings of a minor issue that would require him to miss his early season goals. 
• Hailing from a dynasty of victors, the offspring of the eminent Good Magic and the distinguished Puca, Mage is poised to commence his tenure as a sire, his heritage valued at a stud fee of $25,000. 

Mage Connections

• Jockey: Javier Castellano 

• • He snapped a career 0-for-15 Derby skid with the win aboard Mage. 
  • He ranked 7th in earnings and 38th in wins in 2023. 

• Trainer and co-owner: Gustavo Delgado Sr. and Ramiro Restrepo 

• • Trainer Gustavo Delgado Sr. is a legendary horseman in his native Venezuela, where he won that country’s version of the Triple Crown four times but had never finished better than 12th in two previous tries in the Derby.  
  • Gustavo Delgado Sr., Mage’s trainer, is from Maracaibo and is now based in South Florida. His son, Gustavo Delgado Jr., is an assistant trainer for Mage and took part in purchasing Mage at auction for OGMA Investments, Ramiro Restrepo, Sterling Racing, and Commonwealth. 
  • Co-owner Restrepo is a gregarious, fifth-generation horseman with Colombian roots. He also has a natural skill for blowing past his budget. Delgado Sr. told him not to exceed the budget of $100,000, but Restrepo and Delgado Jr. decided to budget up to $200,000 if needed. They desperately wanted Mage and stayed on the bidding until they finally got him for $290,000. 
  • Gustavo ranked 75th in earnings in 2023. 

• Co-owners: Commonwealth Users 

• • Commonwealth users make up 25% of Mage’s ownership. 
  • Along with the Delgados and other primary owners, over 300 Commonwealth shareholders profited from Mage’s Derby victory. 

• • Commonwealth is a company that allows users to purchase shares of an athlete. Those who bought stakes in Mage, valued at $50, receive portions of the horse’s purses, sales, and future breeding.  
  • With Mage earning the $1.86 million top prize at the Derby, each Commonwealth owner will get $94.52 per share before taxes. 

Racing Career

Pedigree

SIRE:

• Mage’s pedigree shows that his grandsires are Kentucky Derby champions as well. Curlin won the Preakness in 2007. With this, his very own sire, Good Magic (Curlin’s colt), also finished second in the 2018 Kentucky Derby. 
• Curlin was at one time the highest-earning Thoroughbred in North America. According to the National Museum of Horse Racing, he finished his career with a record $10.5 million in earnings.  

DAM:

• Big Brown (sire of Puca) won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes 2008. 
• Like Mage, who only ran three times before winning the Kentucky Derby, Big Brown also went 3-for-3 to start his career, highlighted by a blowout victory in the Florida Derby, and he kept his win streak intact with a decisive triumph in the 2008 Kentucky Derby. 
• Big Brown has sired both dirt horses and turf runners alike, and that versatility is evident in Puca. Victorious twice apiece on dirt and turf, Puca was at her best running long and recorded her best effort in the 1 1/8 mile Gazelle (G2) on dirt at Aqueduct, finishing second. She later ran 12th in the Kentucky Oaks (G1).