First it was Apollo. Then Justify. Now Mage. He became only the third horse to go unraced as a 2-year-old before winning the Kentucky Derby.
In only his fourth start, all since Jan. 28, the Good Magic colt trained by Gustavo Delgado and ridden by Javier Castellano raced to the lead turning into the stretch and pulled away to win Saturday’s run for the roses.
Mage (15-1) finished one length ahead of second-place Two Phil’s (9-1), Angel of Empire (4-1) in third, Disarm (27-1) and Hit Show (24-1).
The winning time was 2:01.57 for the 1 1/4 miles on the fast, main track following early fractions of 22.35, 45.73, 1:10.11 and 1:36.06.
Both Delgado and Castellano are natives of Venezuela, which celebrated a Derby win in 1971 when Cañonero II, who was foaled there, won the roses. It was Castellano’s first Derby win in 16 tries and Delgado’s in three.
The Derby was run after five horses were scratched since Thursday, including futures betting favorite Forte because of an ankle injury that was inspected Saturday morning by Kentucky state veterinarian Nick Smith.
