Mage shipped from Monmouth Park in New Jersey to Saratoga on Monday and was given another day off on Tuesday. He made his first visit to the track on a cool, foggy morning under his regular exercise rider J.J. Delgado. Assistant trainer Gustavo Delgado held the colt while he was bathed, while his father, trainer Gustavo Delgado, watched.

Delagado, Jr. said that Mage has come out of his first race since the GI Preakness on May 20 in good shape.

“We like what we see, especially the eating, the travel and then here,” Delgado, Jr. said. “This morning he looked pretty good.”

Mage wanted to move around during the bath and Delgado, Jr. said he was tough to control at times.

“Tomorrow, I think he will start galloping, the way he looked today, because he needs it,” Delgado, Jr. said. “He will start off galloping here and then probably next week we'll start taking him to the main track.”

Mage's connections set the Travers as the summer goal after he finished third in the Preakness. They gave him 17 days off and embarked on a training program to prepare him for the summer starts. Delgado, Jr. said that even in defeat the Haskell was a success.

“Everything was according to plan,” he said. “Of course, we wanted to win. And we never had a doubt that he was going to be competitive enough. The thing is that previous to the race we missed at least one breeze that was on the schedule. It was raining a lot at the training center so we couldn't get one work in. But his last one, he was ready. 'Let's take him to the Haskell because he might pull it off.'”

Yet to be decided is whether Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano will ride Mage in the Travers. Castellano rode Arcangelo (Arrogate) in the GI Belmont S. and that colt is headed to the Travers, too. Delgado said he and his father had dinner at Castellano's house Tuesday night, watched the Haskell several times, but did not discuss the Travers.

Delgado, Jr. said they hope that Castellano will be aboard for the marquee race of the Saratoga season, which could decide the 3-year-old male title.

“We wouldn't want to try with somebody else, that's for sure,” Delgado, Jr. said. “But at the same time he's an easy horse to ride. He's not that difficult.”

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“Coming off of a record gross of last year, I think we kind of held our own,” said OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski. “It seemed like the market held up through the entire season. There were no big surprises–the market is what the market is. There is money for the perceived higher quality horses and sometimes it can get a little tough in the middle.”

Over three days, 630 head sold for $23,777,900–down from a year ago when 666 horses sold for a sale record gross of $27,052,000. The sale average of $37,743 dropped 7.1% from a year ago, while the median dropped 10.6% to $21,000.  With 136 horses reported not sold, the buy-back rate was 17.8%. That figure is almost par with the 2022 figure of 17.4%, which includes post-sale transactions.

Three of the auction's top six prices came from its supplemental section late in Thursday's final session. John Fahey made the day's highest bid, going to $475,000 for a colt by Into Mischief who was consigned by Tom McCrocklin.

A total of 11 juveniles sold for $200,000 or more during the sale, compared to 21 who hit that mark last year.

The June sale was described throughout the week as polarized and spotty. Many of these same consignors who were selling 2-year-olds in Ocala this week will now be looking ahead to purchasing yearlings beginning next month in Lexington.

“We are putting together a plan on what we are going to do,” Randy Hartley said of expectations for Hartley/DeRenzo's strategy for the upcoming yearling sales.

Asked if he expected any perceived softening in the 2-year-old market this year would translate to the yearling sales, he said, “You don't know because horse people have amnesia. They will go right back there and we will be fighting over them in July.”

Playing at the top of the pinhooking market, Hartley/DeRenzo enjoyed a strong year in the sales ring.

“The market we play in is the most riskiest market but it's the safest market,” he said. “Because people with a lot of money want the best horses. It's what we do and it's the kind of horses we try to buy.”

The Gladwells' Top Line Sales topped the OBS March sale with a $2-million colt by Good Magic. Jimbo Gladwell admitted the operation will be more selective in its yearling purchases, but ultimately will maintain the same approach.

“I don't think we are going to change anything, but we are probably just going to be a little more particular about what we are buying,” Gladwell said. “The market seems really polarized towards perceived quality, but we are still going to shop every sale and just try to pick up quality horses where we find them.

“These last couple of sales have been tough, but it's mainly been tough on the ones that don't make the cut or reach the bar of what people set for what they think is acceptable. If you don't reach the bar, it's very difficult to get them sold. But as long as you jump through all of the hoops and they vet good, and are fast enough, you can do very well. You just have to be very particular when you are buying them because there is not much room for error.”

While the top end of the market inevitably takes care of itself, middle-market pinhookers have been more affected by the increased polarization in the juvenile market this spring.

“I am going to have to be very selective,” Bryan Rice of Woodside Ranch said of his yearling buying plans. “The horses that I was right on, I was able to succeed with. Any horse that I missed the mark at all on, it was pretty unforgiving. So, as I move forward, it has to be really a horse that strikes me in all aspects and that I really believe in.”

Asked if he expected a less competitive yearling market this fall, Rice said, “It probably will be. At least in the middle. I don't think there will be [any softening] in the top. I think it will stay strong, but those of us who make a living moving the intermediate horses, we are going to have to be really selective and really careful with our money.”

Into Mischief Colt Leads the Way Thursday

Bloodstock agent John Fahey made a pair of high-priced purchases on behalf of undisclosed clients from the supplemental section of the OBS June sale, ultimately paying a session-topping $475,000 for a colt by Into Mischief (hip 1074) just 10 hips from the auction's end. Consigned by Tom McCrocklin, the bay colt is out of Canadian champion Delightful Mary (Limehouse).

“He's a big, beautiful Into Mischief colt,” Fahey said of the juvenile who worked a quarter-mile in :21 flat. “He could be a stallion. We will go to the races and find out.”

Fahey said the colt's final price tag was not a surprise.

“Into Mischief is the best stallion in the world and he stands for $250,000,” Fahey said. “And they put all this work into him to get to this point and we get him for basically double the stud fee.”

A few hips earlier, Fahey went to $370,000 to acquire a filly by Flameaway (hip 1066).

“I bought her for a client of Justin Casse's,” Fahey said. “She did everything, jumped through all of the hoops. The good ones are expensive.”

The gray filly is out of Tomato Bisque (Macho Uno), a full-sister to graded winner Macho Macho (Macho Uno). Consigned by Julie Davies, the juvenile worked a furlong in :9 4/5.  She was purchased for $50,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

Fahey purchased six horses at the three-day auction; bidding on behalf of Stone Bridge Farm, he paid $52,000 for a filly by Violence (hip 703); on behalf of Lazy Creek, he paid $17,000 for a colt by Karakontie (Jpn) (hip 323); and as agent, he purchased a colt by Palace Malice (hip 601) for $20,000.

“I felt like if people didn't want to go to the races, you could buy a nice horse that vets for $150,000 easy,” Fahey said of the market at OBS this week. “But if they want to go to the races, they are going to protect them.”

Arrogate Colt to Delgado, Restrepo 

Ramiro Restrepo and Gustavo Delgado, Jr., who teamed up to purchase future GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic) as a 2-year-old last year, put together a new partnership to acquire a colt from the last crop of Arrogate (hip 868) for $375,000 during Thursday's final session of the OBS June sale. Consigned by Hartley/DeRenzo Thoroughbreds, the dark bay colt is out of Epic Scataway (Scat Daddy) and worked a furlong last week in :10 flat.

With time winding down on the juvenile sales season, Restrepo agreed there was a desire to acquire a colt by the late champion who was responsible for last week's GI Belmont S. winner Arcangelo.

“Obviously, when we look back at what Arrogate has done as a sire in his limited crops, it's unbelievable,” Restrepo said. “A Classic winner, graded stakes winners, it's just an incredible loss to the game. This is going to be one of the last available ones up for purchase. The colt had an extraordinary work and he is a tremendous physical. For us, we really buy in limited boutique numbers and this horse just kind fit everything we were looking for.”

Restrepo said Delgado was absolutely committed to buying the juvenile.

“Gustavo loved this horse to the moon,” Restrepo said. “He must have gone back to the barn six times and was so, so high on the horse. Arcangelo was our neighbor. Gustavo, Jr. saw Arcangelo walking the shedrow from day one, so he had a front row seat in seeing his development and seeing how these Arrogates progress. And this horse was in line with those other ones. So it just struck a chord with Jr., big time.”

The partnership also purchased a colt by Into Mischief (hip 477) for $300,000 at last month's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May sale–the same auction where they acquired Mage last spring.

“Our mindset is that we want to buy really nice racehorses with talent and ability that can go and be whatever they are going to be–champion sprinters, champion grass horses, middle-distance horses, Derby horses, whatever. We are looking for good, talented horses and hopefully it all comes together later this fall. Our mindset has always been the same, just find talented runners that can take us places, whether it's the Kentucky Derby or the Travers next year or whatever. We are just hoping for a fantastic effort and our new partners have fun.”

Hip 868 was named Victory Avenue when he went through the sales ring at OBS Thursday, but his path to the auction was anything but paved straight. He was purchased by Dean De Renzo and Randy Hartley for $150,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale. He returned to the sales ring in Ocala sporting an impressive scar across his neck.

“We have a night watchman who lives on the farm and he checked everything around 12-12:30 a.m. right around Christmas one night and everything was fine,” Hartley explained. “I came to the barn at 4 a.m. and he had gotten cast in his stall. He rubbed his shoulder and his back and took off pretty much all the hide. So he had to spend a month at the clinic, rehabbing and getting the hyperbaric chamber and getting him to heal good.”

Hartley said the colt didn't get broke until April and he almost didn't take the handsome dark bay to the June sale.

“I didn't think after the year we had that Dean was going to make me come, but we had another colt in the sale and he said, 'Why don't you just take the black colt?' I said, 'He's never breezed before.' We started to break him in April. But he came over here and he was training like he's a little professional.”

Hartley/DeRenzo had a good spring with offspring of Arrogate. At the OBS Spring sale, the consignment sold a colt by the late sire for $1.45 million. At the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May sale, the consignment topped the sale with a $1-million daughter of the late champion.

“I know there are no more Arrogates, so I'm like what am I going to buy now?” Hartley said. “I guess I'll be buying some Good Magics and some Justifys–I love the Justifys.”

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Rider J.J. Delgado was forced to pause his training to fix a back bandage that came loose after the first half-mile, however, the colt ultimately galloped about 1 1/2 miles.

Following the minor mishap, the Derby winner continued on his way around the racetrack before he returned to Barn 42 where trainer Gustavo Delgado prepared to ship the colt to Baltimore late Saturday afternoon.

“We always wanted to be more cautious before making the decision whether to run in the Preakness after the Derby,” co-owner/assistant trainer Gustavo Delgado Jr. said Saturday. “It was fair to ask the question. We just wanted to make sure he was giving us all the right signs following the Derby and he is. The fact that he only has four starts and young horses tend to get better after they get a few starts under them, it gives us a bit of confidence.”

The van that will transport Mage to Baltimore was expected to depart around 4 p.m., according to Steve Hargrave, Churchill Downs' Senior Director of the Stable Area. The trip is more than 600 miles and usually takes 8 hours and 45 minutes.

Delgado has only started one horse in the Preakness. In 2019, Delgado ran Bodexpress in the second jewel of racing's Triple Crown where he unseated jockey John Velazquez leaving the gate.

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As a teenager, Delgado Jr. relished the celebrity-like status that came with being the son of a local legend.

“He has always been sort of a superhero for me because he has always been at the top wherever he's been,” explained Delgado. “Everywhere we went, people were always asking for tips, asking who to bet on that weekend, that kind of thing. I grew up with that and I always felt special because that was my dad.”

In 2014, the elder Delgado decided to leave a thriving stable in his home country behind at the age of 60 and pursue a lifelong dream of making it to the top of the game in the U.S. It wasn't long before the Delgado name was well known on the Florida racing circuit.

One year after his father moved to the States, Delgado Jr. made a trip to New York to watch American Pharoah claim the 2015 Triple Crown. Before traveling back home, he made a quick stop in Miami to visit his father. While there, his father pitched him on staying in Florida to be his assistant.

At first, Delgado Jr. was hesitant. When his father left Venezuela, Delgado was left in charge of their home stable and he was excited to be overseeing some nice local horses on his own at the age of 28. But ultimately, he decided to follow his father and the vision he had been painting for his son since childhood.

“Since I was a little kid, he was telling me all the time that we should go and try to win one of those races,” Delgado recalled. “Every time the big Classics came on, we were all watching from Venezuela. He always told me that he didn't have any doubt that if we had the right horse, we could win. So he was kind of selling me his dreams, and I bought them all.”

After the Delgados joined forces in America, their stable continued to flourish. They had their first Grade I winner in the U.S. in 2016 with Paulo Queen (Flatter) in the GI Test S. 2016 GII Mac Diarmida S. victor Grand Tito (Candy Ride {Arg}) and Speed Franco (Declaration of War), who won the 2018 GIII Dania Beach S., also helped them gain recognition early. They went to their first GI Kentucky Derby in 2019 with Bodexpress (Bodemeister), who finished 13^th but later became a Grade I winner in the 2020 Clark S.

Leading in a Kentucky Derby winner | Coady

Delgado Jr. said that the father-son pair has always worked well together, but he laughed and gave a wry grin when asked about if they ever run into any training-related disagreements.

“We're best friends more than a relationship between father and son,” he explained. “I always say that I'm his biggest fan. Of course, he's not perfect. He can be stubborn. He's like a Lambo. He can go from zero to 200 miles per hour in five seconds. Me, I'm more quiet and chill. I try to be the guy who makes him more chill. When an employee wants to give us bad news, they always come to me first because they don't want to tell him. I'm like the middle man.”

“He's a genuine guy,” he continued. “I mean, my dad  will tell you straight away what he thinks. A filter? He doesn't use that. But that's a good thing about him. I love that about him.”

So, with decades of familiarity with his father's outspokenness, when Delgado Jr. bought a rather pricey chestnut 2-year-old last year and his father made it known that he was not too keen on the purchase, Delgado did not bat an eye.

“Fun fact, he didn't like the horse the first time he saw him,” Delgado said. “He didn't like him because he's got parrot mouth. I remember he looked at me and said, 'The next time you are buying a horse, send me a video first and don't buy a parrot mouth.' But I told him, 'Trust me, this guy can run.'”

That horse, who came to be known as Mage (Good Magic), will be Delgado's forever reminder to trust his instincts. With partner Ramiro Restrepo, he stretched their budget to $290,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale to bring home a future GI Kentucky Derby winner.

“Sometimes it's about following your gut, your intuition,” he said. “I loved the horse. We didn't have the money. We had the credit, but not the money. I told Ramiro, 'Listen, this is the horse. We shouldn't be hesitating. This is the horse we're getting and then we'll find out where the money is going to come from.'”

“It played out well,” he added.

At 15-1 odds, Mage brought home a Kentucky Derby victory for the Delgados' OGMA Investments and Ramiro Restrepo, along with Sam Herzberg's Sterling Racing LLC and Brian Doxtator and Chase Chamberlin's Commonwealth. The Delgados' lifelong dream had come to fruition.

Seeing all his family members gathering around for a photo in the winner's circle, Delgado Jr. said, brought back memories of when he was a little boy celebrating big wins with his father back in their home country.

According to MAGE's connections this morning, the GI @KentuckyDerby winner is @PreaknessStakes bound!

Can't wait to see the colt and his team in Baltimore. @GDS_Racing @GustavoJDelgado @RamiroRestrepo @joincmnwlth @LlcOgma pic.twitter.com/XC1KzwZmyO

— TDN (@theTDN) May 12, 2023

“My mom, my two sisters and my nephews and nieces were here together,” he said. “My nieces and nephews are so little–they are between five and nine years old–and for them to have that kind of experience, I think that was one of the things that I feel most proud of. I know they will never forget being there. When you're so little, that goes through your subconscious. That will stay with you forever. So they will look at my dad like a superhero and maybe me as well.”

All systems are officially 'go' for a trip to Baltimore this weekend, as the Mage team confirmed Friday morning. Delgado Jr.'s confidence in his horse is at an all-time high ahead of next Saturday's GI Preakness S.

“Everything about him special,” he said of Mage. “He's fast and he's got a good mind. He's so quiet. When he's around an environment that might be noisy with people around him, he's so chill about it. [He is able to] go in between horses during the race. He can keep back, he can be in the middle, inside or outside. He doesn't care about anything like that.”

No matter the outcome in the Preakness, or how far their success grows from here, the Delgados will always remember Mage as the horse that made a lifelong dream become a reality.

“It's been overwhelming in a good way,” Delgado Jr. said as he reflected on an unforgettable week. “When you ask what was the purpose of accomplishing something like this, it's about showing people that it can be done. Because the thing is, if you look back on not having the same resources, not having the same tools [as other] people trying to accomplish something like this, it gives you a good perspective that it can be done. This just started with a vision, with a dream. We imagined that we can do it. We didn't know where that horse was coming from or where the money was coming from. We didn't have a plan. We just wanted to do it.”

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“What we usually do after a big race like we had, we try to go nice and easy. That seems to be what he did today,” said Gustavo Delgado Jr., assistant to his father.

Mage, who collected 40 points for his runner-up Florida Derby finish and 10 points for his fourth-place effort in the GII Fountain of Youth, currently sits 16th on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard and may remain at Gulfstream for another breeze before shipping to Churchill Downs.

“If the weather stays like this here, he may have another work here,” said Delgado Jr. “It will all depend on how he behaves. We already know what we have.”

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Owned by Top Racing LLC (Lucas Noriega), Global Thoroughbred (Rafael Celis) and GDS Racing Stable (Gustavo Delgado), Bodexpress clocked 1 1/8 miles on a fast track in 1:49.12 under jockey Rafael Bejarano, who rode the winner for trainer Gustavo Delgado. Son Gustavo Delgado Jr. was on hand to saddle the winner for his father.

The lofty $282,100 first prize lifted the bay Kentucky-bred's earnings to $694,600 from a record of 4-4-3 in 17 starts.

“This is a different horse than we saw last year during the Triple Crown campaign,” Delgado Jr. said. “He's really matured. Turning for home I thought we had a really good shot. The horse deserves this most of all. I'm very happy for everyone involved but we are so happy for Bodexpress.”

Breaking from post position No. 8 in the full field of 14, Bodexpress was forwardly placed throughout the race. Phantom Currency dictated the early pace (:23.39 and :47.94) and had a 1 ½-length advantage on Bodexpress leaving the first turn into the backstretch run. Mr Freeze found room along the rail and raced alongside Bodexpress. The trio bunched around the far turn and the leader began to fade. Mr Freeze briefly took over after six furlongs in 1:12.77 but Bodexpress made a three-wide move, stuck a nose in front at the three-sixteenths pole and inched clear inside the final furlong. Code of Honor made a four-wide bid down the stretch but did not have enough to get by the winner.

“This horse just showed so much run today,” Bejarano said. “I'm so proud of him. (Phantom Currency) was going so fast on the lead and we were able to sit a really good trip just behind him. He relaxed very nicely for me and turning for home I could feel I still had a lot of horse underneath me. He had a lot of energy in deep stretch when we needed it to hold off the rest of the horses. It's very special winning a race like this returning to Kentucky to ride this year. This is my home and we've had a lot of success here in my career. This was very special.”

Bodexpress, at odds of 11-1, rewarded his backers with mutuels of $25.40, $10.60 and $7. Code of Honor, with John Velazquez up, returned $4 and $3. Owendale, under Florent Geroux, was another length back in third and paid $3.80 to show.

“We got into a good spot on the backstretch in between horses,” Velazquez said of Code of Honor. “We were chasing the speed of (Phantom Currency) and turning for home we didn't have a lot of room. When I finally got a spot to run around the eighth pole, (Bodexpress) kept going and we weren't able to catch him.”

Coastal Defense finished fourth and was followed by Mr Freeze, Silver Prospector, By My Standards, Bourbon Calling, Crafty Daddy, Title Ready, Multiplier, Aurelius Maximus, Plus Que Parfait and Phantom Currency. In Love (BRZ) was scratched from the also-eligible list.

This was the first stakes victory for Bodexpress, who entered the race off a dominating 11 ¼-length allowance win over 1 1/16 miles at Gulfstream Park West on Oct. 17.

Bodexpress qualified to the 2019 Kentucky Derby (GI) as a maiden with a second place finish behind Maximum Security in that year's $1 million Florida Derby (GI). He placed 13^th in the Derby and, two weeks later, unseated jockey John Velazquez when he reared at the start of the Preakness. He galloped around the track far removed from the inner rail and became a social media sensation.

Next up for Bodexpress is a likely run in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup (GI) at Gulfstream on Jan. 23.

Bodexpress is son of Bodemeister out of the City Zip mare Pied a Terre and was bred by Martha Jane Mulholland.

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The ultra-talented but often-erratic 4-year-old colt turned in a thoroughly professional performance Saturday, scoring his third win in as many starts at Gulfstream Park West in Miami Gardens, Fla., while missing the track record for 1 1/16 miles by .01 seconds. The son of Bodemeister registered a front-running 11 1/4 -length victory in 1:42.53, just off Mr. Jordan's Nov. 12, 2016, track record of 1:42.52, in the featured Race 9, an optional claiming allowance for 3-year-olds and up.

Owned by Global Thoroughbreds LLC, Top Racing LLC and trainer Gustavo Delgado's GDS Racing Stable, Bodexpress is stabled at Gulfstream Park West when he's not traveling to stakes engagements. He broke his maiden in his eighth career start Oct. 14, 2019, and came right back to capture an allowance five weeks later, setting a track record for a mile. He would likely have set a track record for 1 1/16 miles had Emisael Jaramillo put any pressure at all on the Kentucky-bred colt.

'We kind of expected a race like that, actually, because he was training so good,” said Delgado's son and assistant trainer, Gustavo Delgado Jr.

Bodexpress, the 2-5 favorite, went right to the front and set fractions of 24.56 and 48.02 seconds for the first half-mile before completing six furlongs in 1:11.75 and finishing with plenty of energy.

“He's been behaving himself lately. I say, 'Lately,'' Delgado Jr. said. “You can see the change. He's more mature. I'm not even worried about it. Today, I said, 'Do your thing, I don't even care.' He behaved like a pro.”

Bodexpress has provided some anxious moments for his connections while away from Gulfstream Park West while also showing flashes of unfulfilled potential with a few graded-stakes placings. Bodexpress finished second as a maiden behind Maximum Security in the 2019 Florida Derby (G1) at Gulfstream to earn a start in the Kentucky Derby (G1), in which he finished 14^th after a rough journey. In the Preakness Stakes (G1), he unseated jockey John Velazquez when he reared in the starting gate and led the outrider on a merry chase during the race.

“We'll keep him happy and healthy. He'll win one of the big ones,” Gustavo Jr. said.

Bodexpress will be pointed to stakes during Gulfstream's 2020-2021 Championship Meet, including the $3 million Pegasus World Cup (G1) Jan. 23. Another trip to Churchill Downs before then for the Clark (G1) Nov. 27 is a possibility.

”We have a lot of options. We won't dismiss the race at Churchill, because we know he likes Churchill,” Delgado Jr. said.

Identifier, who upset Bodemeister at 60-1 in the Hal's Hope, finished second while never a factor. Glory of Florida finished another 2 3/4 lengths back in third.

The 20-cent Rainbow 6 jackpot pool will be guaranteed at $275,000 on Sunday's program at Gulfstream Park West.

Sunday's Rainbow 6 Jackpot Pool Guaranteed at $275,000
The popular multi-race wager went unsolved for the 11th straight racing day of the Fall Turf Festival Meet Saturday, when multiple tickets were each worth $2,667.48.

There will also be a Super Hi-5 carryover of $5,230.90.

The carryover jackpot is only paid out when there is a single unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 70 percent of that day's pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners, while 30 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool.

Sunday's Rainbow 6 sequence will span Races 4-9, featuring a mile optional claiming allowance for 2-year-olds scheduled for the turf in Race 7. Michael Maker-trained Fulmini is rated as the 7-5 morning-line favorite. The son of Overdriven most recently finished second in the off-the-turf Armed Forces at Gulfstream, where he broke his maiden in his second lifetime start at five furlongs on turf and finished finishing a troubled fourth in the Proud Man Stakes at a mile on turf. Edgard Zayas has the return mount.

In Race 6, Royal Squeeze, a multiple-stakes winner with more than $600,000 earnings, drops back into claiming company for the six-furlong sprint for $40,000 claimers. The Elizabeth Dobles-trained 9-year-old gelding, who captured the Claiming Crown Rapid Transit at the start of the 2019-2020 Championship Meet at Gulfstream, has been racing competitively in stakes and optional claiming in recent years.

Earlier on the program, Miss Auramet is rated as the 6-5 morning-line favorite for her return to South Florida in Race 3, an optional claiming allowance for fillies and mares scheduled for five-furlongs on turf. Trained by Eddie Plesa Jr. for wife, Laurie, Leon Ellman and David Melin, the 4-year-old daughter of uncaptured has had a very productive summer in the Mid-Atlantic under the care of trainer Jorge Duarte Jr. Miss Auramet is coming off back-to-back allowance wins at Laurel Park and Delaware Park. Prior to her summer adventure up north, Plesa saddled Miss Auramet for three victories in a row at Gulfstream two on turf and the other on the main track. Zayas has the call.

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The Delgados are based in South Florida at Gulfstream Park West, but brought Caracaro to Saratoga Race Course in July with the goal of earning enough qualifying points to make the 20-horse Derby. Following second-place finishes in the GIII Peter Pan S. July 16 and the Aug. 8 GI Travers S., a colt who was injured in the winter and away from the races for about six months, is 10th on the Derby leaderboard at 60 points.

With the mission accomplished of just getting a position in the Derby field, the Delgados face the challenge of tangling once again with Tiz the Law (Constitution), the GI Belmont S. winner and likely Derby favorite. At the very least, they know Tiz the Law rather well. Caracaro was second to him in the Travers–5 1/2 lengths behind the New York-bred who was throttled-down in the stretch–and they have seen him in training over Saratoga’s main track. Without question, Tiz the Law’s Travers left them realistic about the test facing them at Churchill Down Sept. 5.

“The last race showed who the real horse was,” said Delgado, Jr., who often serves as the barn’s spokesman. “The races before he was just winning, but the last one was impressive.”

Delgado said that jockey Manny Franco had Tiz the Law “cantering to the line” in the Travers, which turned out to be the fifth-fastest time in the history of the race.

“Before, we all thought he’s a good horse,” Delgado Jr. said. “Now we’re talking about something else, like a real good one, in my opinion.”

A moment later, he agreed with the suggestion that Tiz the Law might even be a great horse.

Delgado Jr. said that Caracaro, co-owned by Global Thoroughbred and Top Racing, belongs in the Derby and that his connections see him as a contender. The colt ran second in his debut at Gulfstream Park Dec. 8 then broke his maiden by six lengths Jan. 11. There were offers to buy him as a Derby prospect after the victory, but he had to be taken out of training when a vet exam revealed an issue in his rear end. The Peter Pan was his return to competition and he was quite game despite the lengthy layoff, battling with Country Grammer (Tonalist) in the stretch before finishing second by a neck. While never a threat to win the Travers, he finished well after a wide trip. Delgado Jr. said a top-four finish in the Derby with jockey Javier Castellano is realistic and that from what he and his father can see the colt is still developing.

“This is the third time off the layoff and they usually run well the third, the fourth time. If he keeps improving he’s going to be tough,” he said. “Obviously, Tiz the Law is the main guy. If he doesn’t show up for any reason, we might be ready.”

In Delgado Jr.’s assessment, Caracaro sits in a group of five or six capable Derby horses behind Tiz the Law. Caracaro worked five furlongs in 1:01.02 Saturday over the wet main track at Saratoga and will have his final breeze this weekend before shipping to Kentucky.

“He is a good horse. Just the other one is better than him now,” Delgado Jr. said. “You pull out Tiz the Law, I tell you, I am not afraid of any of the others. It’s the Derby. Twenty horses. We’ve seen it before.”

Caracaro has thrived with his training and racing in Saratoga, Delgado Jr. said, providing some perspective.

“He’s getting fitter, lighter. He had too much weight that he is losing progressively in a good way. He’s more fit. He’s more tight. Before the Peter Pan, you could tell in the paddock he was like this,” Delgado said, spreading his arms to illustrate width. “He looked way fatter than the other horses. He didn’t look fit in the Peter Pan.

He continued, “You realize that once you are in the paddock and you can turn to the other horses. Sometimes when you see them train, you see them every day, you don’t notice the difference. But once you are in the paddock and you look and compare them to the other ones, you are like, ‘Oh, he’s a little chubby.'”

Though Delgado Jr. was clear that Tiz the Law is the horse to beat in the Derby, he pointed to the reality that there are no guarantees in the sport.

“There is still a lot of time. They have a plane to catch,” he said. “Trust me, the pressure is on them. They have the best horse in the race. The pressure is on them.”

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Heavy thunderstorms hit the Capital Region around 8:00 a.m. ET, resulting in sloppy conditions over the main track, but the show went on for the bay son of Uncle Mo, who went the first quarter in 25.60 seconds before finishing off his work in 1:01.02 under exercise rider J.J Delgado.

“We wanted something easy. In his first work after the Travers, we just want to see where we're at,” said Delgado's son and assistant Gustavo Delgado, Jr. “Ideally, we'll have [Hall of Fame jockey] Javier [Castellano] aboard next Saturday. We'll see during the week how he comes back from this work and where his energy level is at, but so far, he's doing well.”

Delgado said Caracaro is familiar with breezing over a wet track, having worked twice over a “wet fast” track in June at his home base of Gulfstream Park West.

“He kind of likes it. He does well over it,” Delgado, Jr. said.

Owned by Global Thoroughbred and Top Racing, Caracaro earned a 92 Beyer Speed Figure in his second-out graduation in January at Gulfstream Park ahead of a strong runner-up effort to Country Grammer in the Grade 3 Peter Pan on July 16 at the Spa.

Last out, Caracaro garnered a career-best 101 Beyer when runner-up to likely Kentucky Derby favorite Tiz the Law in the Travers finishing 5 ¼ lengths behind the four-time Grade 1 winner.

Caracaro will be Delgado's third Kentucky Derby starter after Majesto [18th, 2016] and Bodexpress [13th, 2019], both of whom arrived at the “Run for the Roses” off runner-up efforts in the Grade 1 Florida Derby.

“We've always been Derby dreamers,” Delgado, Jr. said. “With Majesto and Bode, we were really trying to qualify for the big race. Bode was a maiden when he ran, and he was in the 21 post. We only needed one scratch and it was [morning line favorite] Omaha Beach. This one has shown so much talent since we got him. His speed figures are improving.”

Caracaro will put the finishing touches on his serious Kentucky Derby preparation next Saturday and is scheduled to fly out to Louisville the following day. He will be joined by Bodexpress, who worked five furlongs in 1:01.88 on Saturday, and will likely target an allowance event on Churchill Downs' Kentucky Derby undercard.

Bred in Kentucky by SF Racing, Caracaro was purchased as a weanling for $95,000 at the 2017 Keeneland November Sale, where he was consigned by Buckland Sales.

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“We wanted something easy. In his first work after the Travers, we just want to see where we’re at,” said Gustavo Delgado, Jr., son of and assistant to trainer Gustavo Delgado. “Ideally, we’ll have [Hall of Fame jockey] Javier [Castellano] aboard next Saturday. We’ll see during the week how he comes back from this work and where his energy level is at, but so far, he’s doing well.”

Accorded ‘Rising Star’ status off his six-length graduation going Gulfstream’s one-turn mile Jan. 11, Caracaro was off six months before running Country Grammer (Tonalist) to a neck in the GIII Peter Pan S. on opening day at the Spa July 16. He earned a 101 Beyer Speed Figure for his Travers, in which he was 5 1/2 lengths behind Tiz the Law and two lengths ahead of Max Player (Honor Code).

Caracaro is scheduled to depart for Louisville Aug. 30.

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