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Mage Co-Owner Ramiro Restrepo Planning A Different Party At Preakness 148

Ramiro Restrepo showed up at the 2005 Preakness Stakes (G1) in a rented yellow school bus with a bunch of friends from the University of Maryland.

“From College Park to Baltimore,” recalled Restrepo of the '05 Preakness, won by Afleet Alex. “We loaded on that thing. Tons of beer.”

This year?

“I won't be in that party,” Restrepo said with a laugh.

As one of Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Mage's four core owners, Restrepo will likely show up in something a little fancier to see if his colt can win the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.

“I've been to at least a dozen Preaknesses,” Restrepo said. “But my favorite was the Sunday Silence-Easy Goer one in 1989, which I watched on TV.”

Restrepo, 44, is a lifelong racing fan who attributes his interest in the sport to a long list of family members who were involved in racing. A grandfather rode horses in Colombia in the 1930s and two uncles served as grooms and hotwalkers in New York.

“I was born in Jersey and my first memories going to the track were going to Belmont Park, and my grandfather showing me Kelso and Forego when they were paraded,” he said.

When Restrepo was a young child growing up in Miami, his parents took him to Hialeah Park on weekends, even though Florida law at that time prevented minors from attending. They got around the ban by parking their red Volvo outside the fence at the first turn, plopping the young Restrepo up on the hood, and watching from a distance.

In 1988, on the first day when the racing ban involving minors was lifted, Restrepo was one of the first through the turnstiles at Gulfstream Park. The track photographer gathered the kids in the winner's circle after the first race and took their picture.

“It was my playground,” Restrepo said of the tracks.

Restrepo went to the University of Miami and after graduating in 2000, went to work the nightlife scene on Miami Beach.

“We promoted, we marketed, we managed, and we owned nightclubs,” he said.

But Restrepo couldn't resist the allure of racing, and it was about this time a year ago that he and Gustavo Delgado Jr. were high-bidders on a Good Magic colt at the Mid-Atlantic May Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale. They paid $290,000 – above their budget – for the horse they would eventually name Mage.

They sold part of their ownership interest in Mage to Sterling Racing LLC and Commonwealth, then turned the colt over to Delgado's father, Venezuelan-born trainer Gustavo Delgado. The colt made his debut on the Jan. 28 Pegasus World Cup Handicap undercard at Gulfstream, winning his maiden by 3 ¾ lengths, returned in February to finish fourth in the Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2), and punched his Kentucky Derby ticket on April 1 with a strong second-place finish behind Forte in the Florida Derby (G1).

Restrepo said it's been the ride of a lifetime.

“Nothing prepares you,” Restrepo said of watching Mage win the Kentucky Derby and then reveling in the aftermath. “The feeling of crossing the wire first, and then the explosion of things that comes after.”

Restrepo said getting from the grandstand to the winner's circle at Churchill Downs was a surreal feeling.

“I was getting tackled by buddies like it was a rugby match, mosh-pitting and whooping and hollering,” he said. “Then the horse comes over, he's got the roses, (jockey Javier Castellano) is throwing roses in the air. People are screaming. People are crying. You're thinking, 'Where am I?' It's like you're floating out of body. You're being feted like we're celebrities. It's like you're Mick Jagger.”

It was nothing like riding a yellow school bus to Pimlico Race Course. This time, he'll come first class.

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Kirkpatrick & Co. Presents In Their Care: ‘Invisible Jockey’ J.J. Delgado A Key To Mage’s Kentucky Derby Success

Jockeys often volunteer to take their Kentucky Derby mounts through the last workout or two leading to the big day. They understand how vital those drills can be, and they want to do everything possible to ensure that their horses are as ready as can be.

Javier Castellano, winless with his first 15 Derby starters, desperately wanted to reverse his fortunes. He phoned trainer Gustavo Delgado and offered to fly from his New York base to Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., to put Mage through his final work a week ahead of the Derby.

Delgado appreciated Castellano's willingness to do that. But he declined, saying he would stick with exercise rider Jose Javier (J.J.) Delgado for that all-important task.

“J.J. knows the horse so well. I don't want to change anything,” the trainer told Castellano. “I want to stay with my guy.”

Castellano said he “absolutely” understood that answer, especially since Mage went on to end the Hall of Fame rider's Derby drought by springing a 15-1 upset in only his fourth career start.

The response said everything about the trust that Delgado the rider has earned from Delgado the trainer. When J.J. was a jockey, he piloted one of Delgado's Triple Crown winners in Venezuela. When the trainer moved to the United States, he knew exactly where to turn for a top exercise rider since J.J. had retired as a jockey.

The strength of the decades-long relationship the two men enjoy is rare.

“He never uses jockeys to breeze horses. He uses me always,” Delgado said proudly. He described exercise riders as “invisible jockeys” because they so rarely receive any attention.

In the case of J.J., 60, it is almost as if he can read the trainer's mind. “They've been working together for so long, he doesn't give many instructions for what we are trying to accomplish,” said Gustavo Delgado Jr., who assists his father.

J.J. is a perfect fit for the Delgado operation, which conducts itself differently from most United States outfits with its emphasis on long works to prepare young horses for classic distances. Mage, purchased as a 2-year-old in training, went unraced last season to give him time to mature. Of the Good Magic colt's final five pre-Derby works, three were at six furlongs and two covered five furlongs.

On April 22, J.J. and Mage traveled six furlongs in 1:14.78 at the 3-year-old's home base of Gulfstream Park in South Florida. A week later, the same move went in 1:16.80 at Churchill Downs. According to Delgado Jr., J.J. was the perfect passenger each time because his father's emphasis was on building stamina. He was not concerned about speed, certain that was there whenever needed.

“He's very good at teaching them how to rate,” Delgado Jr. said of J.J.

J.J. Delgado, aboard Mage in the days leading up to the Kentucky Derby

According to J.J., Mage was a nervous baby when he first arrived at the Delgado's barn at Gulfstream Park. All of the on-track activity during training hours was disconcerting. He required extensive schooling at the starting gate.

“We spend the time with him,” J.J. said. “He is a smart horse. He learned a lot.”

Mage did not debut until Jan. 28, when he easily won a seven-furlong contest at Gulfstream Park. With Castellano aboard for the March 4 Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) at Gulfstream, the youngster showed how much he was a work in progress. He struck the gate at the break, then ran unevenly.

Castellano now raves about how far the horse has come and the job that J.J., in particular, has done. “Everything is important, all the elements,” he said. “The exercise rider is most important. He gets on the horse every single day. He knows that horse so well. He can tell you if the horse is making progress.”

J.J. knows what it takes to win the Derby, having played a role in Big Brown's success in 2008. When he huddled with Castellano before this year's edition, he told him the colt had made dramatic strides since his erratic effort in the Fountain of Youth.

“I said, 'Don't worry about that race. The horse is very different here in Kentucky. The horse is happy, strong,'” J.J. related. “'The horse is ready to win.'”

Mage had shown dramatic improvement when he placed second by a length to Forte in the April 1 Florida Derby with Luis Saez aboard. J.J. believes the significantly brisker weather in Kentucky may have helped the sophomore take his game to an even higher level.

J.J. likes what he is seeing and feeling so far as Mage prepares for the Preakness on Saturday at Baltimore's Pimlico Race Course. He is excited about the chances for an encore.

“If he's the same horse, no problem at all,” he said, appreciating how far Mage has come.

Tom Pedulla, 2022 recipient of the Walter Haight Award from the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, wrote for USA Today from 1995-2012 and has been a contributor to the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Blood-Horse, America's Best Racing and other publications.

If you wish to suggest someone as a potential subject for In Their Care, please send an email to info @ paulickreport.com that includes the person's name and contact information in addition to a brief description of the individual's background.

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‘My Left Arm Was Just Dangling’: Chantal Sutherland’s Monmouth Plans Delayed By Fowl Play At Gulfstream

Jockey Chantal Sutherland had planned on riding at Monmouth Park for the first time this summer, but when the Jersey Shore track opened on Saturday, Sutherland was in her South Florida home recovering from surgery for an injury she said was “totally avoidable.”

Sutherland rode Joe Orseno-trainer Haruki to a fourth-place finish at 24-1 odds in the day's final race, the English Channel Stakes, but as the horses were pulling up, she said geese wandering across the turf course spooked her mount.

“I saw them before the horse did, and I grabbed the horse to stop him,” she said. “Then he saw them and put the brakes on and ducked to his right, so I slingshotted off the horse.

“I put my arm out and broke the humerus bone completely off from my shoulder,” she said. “At the time it happened, I didn't feel anything, so when I got up, everyone started screaming. Edgar Perez came to me and helped me with my helmet. I looked down because I thought I broke my collarbone, but then found my left arm was just dangling.

“When I hit the ground, my left arm snapped at the base of my shoulder and it went up into my collarbone.”

Sutherland said a trainer stabled in one of the long tent-like barns on the clubhouse turn feeds the fowl during the last break during morning training and again late in the day. The geese live in the infield lake and cross the racetracks to get fed, she said.

“It's not a zoo. It's not a farm – it's a racetrack,” said Sutherland, adding that other riders have complained to track officials about the geese. “We have to be vigilant and mindful of how risky our jobs are.”

William Badgett, executive director of Florida racing operations for track owner The Stronach Group, responded to a text message asking about the incident, saying “not true.” When asked for specifics, he declined to comment further.

Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Marc Lee Ebersberger performed surgery on the injured shoulder May 8 at AHCA Florida Aventura Hospital.

“Surgery went well,” Sutherland said. “They went in and did work on my shoulder and then pulled back the humerus out of my armpit and reattached it with a plate into my shoulder.”

Sutherland, 47, said additional X-rays will be taken May 23 to determine the progress. She said she will need between four to six weeks for the bone to heal.

The Winnipeg, Canada, native and two-time Sovereign Award winner is getting infrared and hyperbaric chamber treatment to speed the recovery, but thinks it will be 2 1/2 to three months before she is 100 percent and able to resume riding.

“I was really excited to be going to Monmouth,” Sutherland said. “Jim Riccio was going to be my agent, and Jorge Delgado had a lot of horses for me to ride. I was hoping to ride also for Claudio Gonzalez.”

Sutherland has enjoyed a resurgence since moving her tack to South Florida the last few years. In 2021, she won 83 races from 597 mounts and earnings of nearly $2.6 million, her best year since 2011, when she was regular rider in Southern California for Bob Baffert-trained, multiple Grade 1 winner Game On Dude.

So far in 2023, she's won 19 races from 146 mounts and earnings of $682,070.

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Trainer Ronney Brown Hits Career Milestone 3,000th Win At Charles Town

Ronney Brown won his 3,000th race as a trainer Saturday when Kenneth Brown's Castle Lights scored in the fourth race at Charles Town.

Ridden by Juan Nunez, Castle Lights vied for the early lead before grabbing a narrow advantage at the eighth pole. The Windsor Castle filly dug in when called upon to tally by three-quarters of a length while notching her sixth win from 23 career starts.

Castle Lights returned $40.60 as the second-longest shot in the eight-horse field. She covered the 4 1/2-furlong allowance test for West Virginia-bred fillies and mares in :52.86.

Based at Charles Town, Ronney Brown's interest in horses has been lifelong. His father began purchasing horses in 1946 and as a youngster he visited Charles Town to watch the horses race. He also worked at the track during the summer, beginning in 1978.

Brown worked in the construction business in the early 1980s before taking out his trainer's license in 1986. He also has owned Thoroughbreds since 1984.

Brown's 17,428 starters have bankrolled more than $36.3 million in purse earnings while also posting 2,639 seconds and 2,354 thirds. He ranks 38th on the all-time wins list among North American trainers.

In 2022, Brown sent out 118 winners to rank 17th among the top 100 North American trainers. This year, he has a 25-29-25 record from 180 starters that have earned $651,478.

Along with his wife, Nicole, Brown operates Pellinore Lane Farm near Charles Town and stands stallions Bullsbay and Mr. Monomoy.

Brown is a member of the Charles Town HBPA's board of directors.

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