Mage (horse)

Mage (foaled April 18, 2020) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2023 Kentucky Derby.

Background
Mage is a chestnut colt bred in Kentucky by Grandview Equine. His sire Good Magic was the U.S. Champion Two-Year-Old in 2017 after he won the 2017 Breeders' Cup Juvenile as a maiden; in 2018 he finished second in the Kentucky Derby.

His dam, Puca, is a daughter of Big Brown. Mage was initially sold for $235,000 to New Team from the Runnymede Farm consignment at the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Mage is the second black-type horse out of his dam's four foals, the other being a stakes-placed Gun Runner filly named Gunning. Mage's full brother Dornoch is also a grade-I stakes winner, having won the 2024 Belmont Stakes. The dam, a stakes-winning half sister to Grade I winner Finnegans Wake, also has a yearling colt by McKinzie. Mage is a descendent of Darley Arabian.

He is trained by Gustavo Delgado, a four-time Venezuelan Triple Crown-winning trainer.

Mage is owned by OGMA Investments, Ramiro Restrepo, Sterling Racing and Commonwealth Thoroughbreds. Commonwealth Thoroughbreds is a micro-shares partnership that formed after Restrepo and Delgado acquired the colt above their initial budget from the Sequel Bloodstock consignment at Fasig-Tipton's Midlantic Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale in May 2022, having cost $290,000.

Career
Mage began his career as a three-year-old on January 28, 2023, with a victory in his first start, a Maiden Special Weight event over seven furlongs at Gulfstream Park.

His next start was in the Grade II Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park where he finished fourth by about seven lengths to the 2022 US Champion Two-Year-Old Forte.

Four weeks later, Mage entered the Grade I Florida Derby where he finished second to Forte after leading in the straight, beaten by a length. Trainer Gustavo Delgado indicated, "(Mage) might have gotten tired but remember, it's still his third race. How many races did it take Forte to get to the level he is?" Mage collected 40 qualification points on the 2023 Road to the Kentucky Derby and with his fourth in the Fountain of Youth Stakes qualified to start in the Kentucky Derby.

Kentucky Derby
Mage broke slowly in the Derby as he did in his previous two close losing efforts. Jockey Javier Castellano allowed his mount to settle toward the back of the field of 18. A fast pace proved to his benefit, with fractions of :22.35, :45.73, and 1:10.11 set by frontrunners Verifying, Kingsbarns, and Reincarnate. Castellano picked his opportunities to advance and had Mage up to sixth by the mile marker. Down the lane, the lightly raced colt caught leader Two Phil's to win by a length in a final time of 2:01.57. At post-time, Mage went off at 15–1 to win. He joins Regret (1915), Big Brown (2008), and Justify (2018) as the only Derby winners who had only three prior starts. Mage, Justify, and Apollo (1882) are the only horses to win the Derby without having raced as two-year-olds.

Statistics
Notes: An (*) asterisk after the odds means Mage was the post-time favourite.

Pedigree
*^ Mage is inbred 4S x 5S x 4D to the stallion Mr Prospector, meaning that he appears fourth and fifth generation (via Miswaki)^ on the sire side of his pedigree and fourth generation on the dam side of his pedigree.

* Mage is inbred 4S x 4D to the stallion Danzig, meaning that he appears fourth generation on the sire side of his pedigree and fourth generation on the dam side of his pedigree.