Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Mage worked six furlongs in 1:15.56 over the main track at Saratoga on Saturday morning in preparation for the $1.25-million Travers (G1) next Saturday at the upstate New York track.
Under partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the 60s, Mage logged his maintenance move with exercise rider J. J. Delgado aboard. NYRA clockers caught the Good Magic colt in splits of :13.60, :26.40, and 50.40 before he galloped out seven furlongs in 1:29.33.
“Mage worked very well this morning. He went very easy,” said trainer Gustavo Delgado.
The breeze was a third local move for Mage, who arrived at the Spa in July. Last Saturday, he covered the six-furlong distance in a sharp 1:12.98.
Gustavo Delgado Jr., the son and assistant to the elder Delgado, said everything went according to plan.
“He did well. It was just a maintenance breeze. He did exactly what my dad told J. J. to do. He wanted 1:15 or 1:16 for six furlongs and that's exactly what he did,” he said.
Following a triumph in the Kentucky Derby, Mage finished third in the Preakness Stakes (G1) on May 19 at Pimlico Race Course, which was won by fellow Travers aspirant National Treasure. He returned to action two months later to run a hard-fought second in the Haskell Invitational (G1) on July 22 at Monmouth Park, finishing 1 3/4 lengths behind the victorious Geaux Rocket Ride.
The younger Delgado also said Mage has acclimated well to his Saratoga surroundings.
“He likes it here. It's been three weeks already that we're here and he shows us all the good signs,” he said. “It helps him to be at the track with time. In the Preakness, we arrived Wednesday and ran Saturday and for the Haskell it was the same thing, we got there earlier in the week and ran that Saturday. But here, he's been able to adapt.”
Mage is owned by OGMA Investments, Ramiro Restrepo, Sterling Racing and CMNWLTH.
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