Tag: Ramiro Restrepo

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.

The post Mage Drills Six Furlongs For Travers appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Kentucky Derby Winner Mage Breezes for Travers

OGMA Investments, Ramiro Restrepo, Sterling Racing and CMNWLTH's GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic) breezed five furlongs in 1:01.03 (5/9) at Saratoga Saturday in preparation for the GI Travers S. Aug. 26.

NYRA Clockers caught the Gustavo Delgado trainee through splits of :12.58, :24.49 and :36.35 over the main track.

“Very good, because it was very easy,” Delgado said of the work, which was Mage's first breeze since finishing second in the GI TVG.com Haskell S. July 22. “The rider said to me, 'no complaints.' Very intelligent and concentrated. He came back and wasn't breathing heavy and was quite focused. We can't ask for more. We wanted whatever the horse wanted to do. It's two weeks after the Haskell, so we had no expectations and he didn't need to hit a mark.”

Restrepo added, “I'm super happy. He galloped out strong and he's really feeling himself. He's really enjoying Saratoga and a lot of horses take to it here. It's like a horse paradise for them and for ourselves. We go week-by-week in this process.”

The post Kentucky Derby Winner Mage Breezes for Travers appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Arabian Knight Favored Over Mage in Haskell

Undefeated two-for-two GIII Southwest S. winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo) has been made the slight 5-2 morning-line favorite for Saturday's $1-million, GI TVG.com Haskell S. at Monmouth Park at the expense of GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic), who was tabbed as the joint 3-1 second choice alongside GI Toyota Blue Grass S. winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Tapit Trice (Tapit). The top three choices drew post positions eight, four, and five, respectively.

“I believe the horse's entire body of work and his entire career is what defines him,” said Mage's co-owner Ramiro Restrepo about the Derby winner. “It's not just one race. He had a great break. It's the start of the second half of his 3-year-old year. We feel he's good enough to compete and put forth a quality effort. Hopefully, that's good enough to get the job done and put forth a great performance and keep it moving. We're happy we have a talented horse who's feeling good, and we hope he'll give a great account of himself Saturday.”

Arabian Knight may be light on experience, but he has the services of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who has won the Haskell a record nine times.

“It's exciting to win the Haskell,” Baffert told track officials via phone from California. “It's a race where every year when I'm [evaluating] my 2-year-olds I always try to figure out who's going to be my Haskell horse. The reason we've always been so successful there is because I always bring my best horses there. You need to do that if you're going to win that race.”

Todd Pletcher, another Hall of Famer, has won the Haskell three times and will send Tapit Trice.

“Post position five works well,” said Pletcher. “He's had a history of drawing inside so that works out well. It looks like there's plenty of pace for him to run at.”

Wednesday's Haskell draw | Bill Denver/EQUI-PHOTO

Two-time Eclipse Award winner Brad Cox has won the Haskell the last two years with Cyberknife (Gun Runner) and Mandaloun (Into Mischief). He will saddle Salute the Stars (Candy Ride {Arg}), who won Monmouth's Pegasus S. June 17.

“Mandaloun and Cyberknife were more accomplished colts. But he acted like a good horse the day he walked into the barn. That's only one exciting thing about him,” said Cox. “I don't know if the fact he's run over the track and won on it gives us an advantage, but it's a plus. These are obviously very good horses we're running against. It's definitely not a disadvantage.”

From the rail out, with jockeys and morning-line odds, the Haskell field includes: Geaux Rocket Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}) (Mike Smith, 9-2); Awesome Strong (Awesome Slew) (Jose Batista, 30-1); Salute the Stars (Joel Rosario, 8-1); Mage (Javier Castellano, 3-1); Tapit Trice (Luis Saez, 3-1); Howgreatisnate (Speightster) (Paco Lopez, 20-1); Extra Anejo (Into Mischief) (Tyler Gaffalione, 5-1); and Arabian Knight (John Velazquez, 5-2).

The Haskell will be run for the 56th time and is a “Win and You're In” race for the $6-million GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita as part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series.

The Haskell undercard will also feature the $600,000 GI United Nations S., the $500,000 GIII Molly Pitcher S., the $400,000 GIII Monmouth Cup S., and the $300,000 GIII WinStar Matchmaker S.

The post Arabian Knight Favored Over Mage in Haskell appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Mage Returns To Work Tab

Mage (Good Magic) recorded his first published workout since winning the GI Kentucky Derby when he breezed five furlongs in 1:07.20 at the Thoroughbred Center in Lexington Friday morning. His connections have yet to decide on his next start.

“We gave him 17 days without a saddle or, obviously, going to the track, so he got a really big break,” said co-owner Ramiro Restrepo. “He was kind of getting a bit bored and wanting to do something so it was time to get him rolling. He has been back on the track for a little under two weeks now. This was his first leg-stretcher. It was a little wake up call. This was not a matter of tightening the screws. It was more like his first day back in the gym.”

Restrepo said that no one should read too much into how slow the time of the work was.

“He had a little over two weeks of doing absolutely nothing and kind of laying out,” he said. “The last thing you would want is to rip him out of the gate. It was more of a strong gallop that was recorded as a breeze. It was the first work back, so the time has nothing to do with it.  It was to show we're back in workout mode. We've never cared about his times in works. There's a bigger objective here than the time of a workout. You don't get prize money or trophies for winning in the mornings. It's just a fitness thing to get him up and at them.”

Restrepo said that three options are being discussed regarding where Mage will run next. They are the GI Haskell S., the GII Jim Dandy S. or the GI Travers.

“Whether we point him to the Jim Dandy, the Haskell or go straight to the Travers, there's a 33 percent chance with all three,” he said. “It's going to be a matter of seeing how he's doing once we get him on a steady work pattern. The No. 1 goal is to make it to the Travers. Bar none, the Travers is the big show for us. He's obviously proven at the mile and a quarter. He'll be shipping to Saratoga sooner rather than later.”

Also, yet to be resolved is what Javier Castellano will do in the event that Mage and GI Belmont S. winner Arcangelo (Arrogate) show up in the same race. If both stay healthy, they will likely face each other sometime this summer, perhaps in the Travers.

“So many things can happen and we are quite a ways away from when he races again, so we haven't even broached the subject with Javier regarding what his decision might be or what his thoughts are,” Restrepo said. “Let's not put the cart before the horse. Let's get him in race shape and then we will start having those discussions with Javier.”

The post Mage Returns To Work Tab appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights