Mage will be the only Kentucky Derby runner to contest the second jewel of the 2023 Triple Crown, coming up this Saturday at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md. The 3-year-old son of Good Magic and jockey Javier Castellano will face seven new shooters in the 1 3/16-mile contest, and will have to work out a trip from post three as the 8-5 morning line favorite. That is perhaps slightly further inside than his connections would have preferred; assistant trainer Gustavo Delgado, Jr., told media just before the draw he was hoping for an outside post.
Trained by Gustavo Delgado, Mage is owned by OGMA Investments LLC, Ramiro Restrepo, CMNWLTH and Sterling Racing LLC. The colt rallied from 16th in a field of 18 under a masterful ride by Hall of Famer Javier Castellano to register a length victory in the May 6 Derby while making only his fourth career start. His connections waited until Friday to commit Mage to the Preakness Stakes.
The second choice on the morning line at 5-2 will be First Mission, a Godolphin homebred son of Street Sense who won the G3 Lexington Stakes in just his third lifetime start. Trained by Brad Cox and to be ridden by Luis Saez, First Mission will break from the outside post in the field of eight. First Mission worked five-eighths of a mile Saturday in a lively 59.20 seconds in preparation for the Preakness; he and Cox's other horses headed to Baltimore for Preakness Weekend stakes were scheduled to leave Churchill Downs at 9 a.m. Monday.
Third choice on the morning line at 4-1 is Bob Baffert trainee National Treasure, most recently fourth in the G1 Santa Anita Derby. The son of Quality Road will add blinkers for the Preakness Stakes, and be piloted from the inside post by jockey John Velazquez.
Trainer Chad Brown will be seeking his third Preakness victory with a similar pattern: a horse that qualified for the Kentucky Derby, but skipped the first Saturday in May in order to contest the Preakness Stakes instead. This year, it's 6-1 chance Blazing Sevens who will leave the starting gate from post position seven under jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr.
Blazing Sevens last raced April 8 when he finished third in the Blue Grass (G1) at Keeneland. That came after an eighth-place finish in the Fountain of Youth (G2) at Gulfstream Park in his seasonal debut. In the Blue Grass, Brown equipped Blazing Sevens with blinkers for the first time.
“I liked him with the blinkers,” Brown said. “They are going to stay on him. He grabbed the bridle a little better and was more consistent (in the Blue Grass).”
The full field is as follows:
- National Treasure* (John Velazquez, Bob Baffert) 4-1
- Chase The Chaos (Sheldon Russell, Ed Moger, Jr.) 50-1
- Mage (Javier Castellano, Gustavo Delgado) 8-5
- Coffeewithchris (Jamie Rodriguez, John Salzman, Jr.) 20-1
- Red Route One (Joel Rosario, Steve Asmussen) 10-1
- Perform (Feargal Lynch, Shug McGaughey) 15-1
- Blazing Sevens (Irad Ortiz, Jr., Chad Brown) 6-1
- First Mission (Luis Saez, Brad Cox) 5-2
*blinkers on
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