Mage | Horse Racing Free Tips

With Determined Run, Deterministic Tops Loaded Saratoga Maiden

It wasn't that Deterministic (Liam's Map) blew away the field in Saturday's fifth race at Saratoga, enroute to earning 'TDN Rising Star' honors. The $625,000 Keeneland September purchase won by just a half-length over 24-1 shot Hurricane Nelson (Khozan). But considering who he beat and how he did it, Deterministic very well may have a bright future.

“There's so much promise when you win a race like this,” said co-owner and NYRA Board member Steven Duncker. “This was a war out there today. Everybody liked their horses and they ran pretty fast. You want to live in the moment, but it's hard not to think of the future.”

In the eight-horse field, seven of the horses had sold at auction and the collective sales price was $2,925,000. That includes the $950,000 paid for Chaperone ($950,000) and the $525,000 paid for 6-5 favorite Eliminate (Curlin).

As the field broke from the gate in the seven-furlong test, things didn't look good for Deterministic. The Christophe Clement trainee, ridden by Joel Rosario, was seventh up the backstretch. Approaching the turn, Deterministic was in threatening position, but he was six-wide and would have to catch Hurricane Nelson, who grabbed a clear lead after putting away Informed Patriot (Hard Spun), the full-brother to GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Spun to Run (Hard Spun).

Deterministic is owned by the partnership of Vinnie Viola's St. Elias Stable, Ken Langone, Duncker and Vicarage Stable. Duncker said that Deterministic is among the first group of horses he has owned with Viola.

“We've been friends with Vinnie for a long time and we all know of his success,” Duncker said. “He was nice enough to come to us and say let's get a group together and split them up between Christophe and Todd (Pletcher). It's been a great process. With owning horses, the consumption comes before the race. We've had a lot of fun with this for six, eight months. You bond a little more when that's the case. I've got to give a lot of credit to Vinnie for being such a great partner. He's an incredible guy and his team has made this special for us.”

Owned and trained by Gustavo Delgado, the trainer of GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic), the lone homebred in the race, turned in a strong performance to finish second. Eliminate, who is owned by the partnership of Spendthrift Farm and Repole Stable, was third, beaten four lengths.

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Mage Drills Six Furlongs For Travers

OGMA Investments, Ramiro Restrepo, Sterling Racing and CMNWLTH's GI Kentucky Derby hero Mage (Good Magic) turned in his penultimate breeze ahead of his anticipated appearance in the Aug. 26, GI Travers S., going six furlongs in 1:12.98 over the Saratoga main track Friday morning under exercise rider J. J. Delgado. According to Daily Racing Form, Mage galloped out seven furlongs in 1:26.31 and was up the mile in 1:40.66.

It was a stiffer breeze than last week, when he covered five furlongs in 1:01.03 over a track with a high moisture content following significant rainfall over the days prior to the work.

“He did pretty good. He was a little more in the bridle today,” said Gustavo Delgado, Jr., son and assistant to trainer Gustavo Delgado, of Friday's move. “His exercise rider was happy about it and the best thing is how he came back. He took a couple rounds [cooling out] and that was it. It's always good to see that.”

Delgado, Jr. said the plan is for the $235,000 Keeneland September yearling turned $290,000 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic juvenile to have one last maintenance work ahead of the Travers.

“It will depend on the weather, but hopefully Friday on the main track again,” said Delgado, Jr.

Mage is expected to face a field that includes 'TDN Rising Star' and reigning Eclipse Award-winning 2-year-old Forte (Violence)–to whom he was runner-up in the GI Curlin Florida Derby–and GI Preakness S. winner National Treasure (Quality Road). Mage was third, beaten 2 1/4 lengths at Old Hilltop and has since finished a bang-up second in the GI Haskell S. July 22. Arcangelo (Arrogate), last-out winner of the GI Belmont S., is also among the probable starters.

Mage will be ridden by Luis Saez in the Travers.

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1/ST Racing Considering Moving Date of the Preakness; NYRA Not on Board with Move

1/ST Racing & Gaming is ready to shake up the Triple Crown.

The company, which operates Pimlico Race Course, has confirmed to the TDN that it is giving strong consideration to moving the date of the GI Preakness S. so that it is run four weeks after the GI Kentucky Derby.

“We have discussed it internally and believe it's in the best interests of horses and horse safety to move the race four weeks after the Kentucky Derby,” said Aidan Butler, Chief Executive Officer of 1/ST Racing & Gaming. “This would give horses more time to recover between races to be able to run in the Preakness. Horse safety is more important than tradition. NYRA is aware and considering how this would impact the Belmont. Stay tuned.”

Butler said there would be no further comment at this time.

Should the date of the Preakness get changed, the next move will be up to NYRA, which hosts the GI Belmont. If the Preakness is moved to four weeks after the Derby that would mean that, unless NYRA also shifts the date of the Belmont, the Belmont would be run just one week after the Preakness. That may be exactly what happens.

“NYRA has concerns about fundamental changes to the structure of the Triple Crown. We have no plans to move the date of the Belmont Stakes,” said NYRA spokesperson Pat McKenna.

The current structure of the Triple Crown works far better for the Belmont than it does for the Preakness. With five weeks between the Derby and Belmont, a number of trainers pass the Preakness and go next in the Belmont.

Traditionally, the Triple Crown is run over a five-week period, with two weeks between the Derby and the Preakness and three weeks between the Preakness and the Belmont. While that may be a long-standing tradition, it has clearly become an impediment to drawing horses to the Preakness because modern trainers are very reluctant to run their horses back within two weeks. In 2022, Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike (Keen Ice) skipped the Preakness and waited for the Belmont. This year, Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic) was the only horse from the Derby to run back in the Preakness.

These developments have led to added support for changing the spacing of the races. Just last month, Tom Rooney, the president and CEO of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, penned an editorial calling for the races be spread further apart. “The time has come in Thoroughbred racing for our own change, to modernize the timeline of the Triple Crown,” he wrote.

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Decisive Delgado Could Not Wait for Castellano

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — It turned out that a non-decision is precisely what settled who would ride GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic) and GI Belmont S. winner Arcangelo (Arrogate) in the GI Travers.

Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano rode both horses to their victories in the Triple Crown series and had his choice of which one to ride in the Travers on Aug. 26 at Saratoga Race Course. He holds the Travers record of six wins.

Mage's trainer, Gustavo Delgado, asked Castellano on Monday to give him an answer by late Tuesday afternoon. Castellano asked for more time and when he did not contact Delgado by the deadline, Delgado announced that Luis Saez would ride the chestnut colt.

“I can't wait for him. That's no problem,” Delgado said. “He said he can't make a decision right now. I understand.”

Delgado said the owners of the colt were asking him who would ride and since he expects the $1.25- million Travers to have a large field, perhaps as many as a dozen runners, he felt it was important to act.

“The decision was not Castellano's. It was my decision,” he said. “My decision was not to wait. Not to wait until next week. Not wait until entries.”

Saez's move to Mage leaves Tapit Trice (Tapit) without a jockey for the moment. Trainer Todd Pletcher said he would talk with the colt's connections about a replacement.

Delgado and Castellano are both from Venezuela and are longtime friends. Castellano said he understands why Delgado wanted the matter settled.

“It's a hard decision. Nobody can be mad,” he said. “We shouldn't be mad. Nobody. This is the business.”

Castellano had hoped he would have more time to discuss his options with his agent and Arcangelo's trainer Jena Antonucci, but Delgado was firm. After spending Tuesday on a boat with his family, Castellano returned home to learn that Delgado had booked Saez.

“I don't blame them because they gave me the right to choose,” Castellano said. “Then they gave me the deadline and I couldn't answer that question right away. Then they took away the decision. It was good. It worked out for everybody.”

Delgado said he settled on Saez because he had ridden the colt to a second-place finish in the GI Florida Derby. Forte (Curlin) made a strong run in the stretch to catch and pass Mage.

“At that moment, he was not used to the horse,” Delgado said. “I think he was surprised with the horse because he never rode (Mage). When I talked with him after the ride, he said, 'Gustavo, this is a good horse. You can win the Derby, but right now I have a commitment to Tapit Trice.'”

Delgado turned to Castellano and he earned his first Derby victory. He also rode Mage to a third in the GI Preakness and a second in the GI Haskell.

Saez's agent Kiaran McLaughlin said they made it clear that they wanted another opportunity on Mage.

“We were always in touch with them,” he said. “We knew there was going to be a possible issue so we told them we would be happy to ride him if they needed a rider.

It wasn't an easy decision because Tapit Trice has been very good to us and Todd has been very good to us, but we just thought we would like to be on Mage in the Travers.”

McLaughlin said he got the call from the Mage camp Tuesday afternoon.

“I just waited for them,” he said. “I told Todd as soon as they told me and he was good with it. He's very, very good to deal with. He's a very close friend and I hate to ever take off a Todd Pletcher, for a claiming race or a Grade I. It's not easy.”

Antonucci said early in the meet that she would be patient and let Castellano pick who he would ride.

“You just have to give things time to breathe sometimes and not force topics and everything always works out the way it's supposed to,” she said. “I'm a big believer that there are stuff way bigger and stronger than us making things happen and watching out.

One of us was going to have Javier and one of us was going to have Luis Saez.”

Castellano is 3-for-3 aboard Arcangelo. Antonucci said she turned to him when Jose Ortiz gave up the mount after two starts. Castellano was up for the maiden victory on Mar. 18, and wins in the GIII Peter Pan on May 13 and the Belmont on June 10.

Antonucci said Castellano's patient approach suits Arcangelo's running style.

“For me, it just works,” she said. “He believes in the horse. The horse knows that. They keep forming more and more of a relationship. It just works.”

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