Good Magic

At this year's GI Preakness S., Shug McGaughey is aiming to win his own version of the Triple Crown. The Hall of Fame trainer won the third leg of the series in 1989, when Easy Goer famously defeated Sunday Silence in the GI Belmont S., and then Orb (Malibu Moon) earned the Kentucky horseman a GI Kentucky Derby score in 2013. This Saturday, McGaughey could claim his final Triple Crown jewel with a promising contender in Perform (Good Magic). On Thursday morning shortly after eight, as Perform walked the Preakness...

Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic) posted his final training move at Churchill Downs Saturday morning prior to shipping to Baltimore for next weekend's GI Preakness S. While the task was ultimately completed safely, the move didn't quite go off without a hitch. 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...

Rodeo Creek Racing's GISW Blazing Sevens (Good Magic) breezed five furlongs over the Belmont main track in his final serious move ahead of the May 20 GI Preakness S. at Pimlico Saturday. Blazing Sevens, who visited the track following the renovation break around 9:00 a.m., worked in company with stakes-winning stablemate Artorius [1:00.18], completing the trip in 1:00.02 over the fast main track. Blazing Sevens was accompanied by Irad Ortiz, Jr. who also rode the Chad Brown trainee in his latest start, a third-place finish in the Apr. 8 GI...

When Gustavo Delgado Jr. was a young boy, his father would drag him out of bed early every morning to go to the racetrack. Growing up in a household that also included his mother, two sisters and a female cousin, Delgado eventually came to look forward to those trackside adventures spending quality time with his father Gustavo Delgado Sr., a member of the Caribbean Racing Hall of Fame as a three-time winner of Venezuela's equivalent of the Triple Crown. As a teenager, Delgado Jr. relished the celebrity-like status that came...

Last Saturday's GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic) is officially headed to Baltimore for the May 20 GI Preakness S. His connections made the announcement via Twitter Friday morning. "Very excited, he's had a magnificent week of training," said co-owner Ramiro Restrepo. "He's shown all the positive signs." The ownership group, which also includes OGMA Investments, Sterling Racing and CMNWLTH, confirmed the colt's participation in the second leg of the Triple Crown at Pimlico Race Course following his Friday morning training session in which he warmed up in the...

Ramiro Restrepo has done a little bit of everything in the racing industry and now he has something else to add to his resume, GI Kentucky Derby winning owner. Restrepo is one of the owners of Mage (Good Magic), the winner of the 149th Derby. To share his thoughts on the race and what it meant to him, Restrepo joined this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast, presented by Keeneland. He was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week. "I still can't sleep," said an emotional Restrepo. "I keep watching...

With barely a dozen race days to be eked out of its remaining two years, the Steve Pini Memorial S. of September 2017 formed part of a pretty low-key bookend to the history of Suffolk Downs. The Boston track's opening era, after all, had been propped up by Seabiscuit himself. But it turns out that this race, honoring the late track superintendent, deserves a rather lengthier footnote than anyone might have imagined at the time. Over an extended mile of turf, a 5-year-old daughter of Big Brown overtook Queen Caroline...

This week's Triple Crown feature examines the trips of GI Kentucky Derby runners in detail from first to last: 1) Mage (No. 12 in TDN pre-race rankings) Mage, the little horse who could, was a characteristic beat slow out of the starting gate. Javier Castellano let him roll with the flow as the field sorted itself out through the first furlong, then darted to secure the rail while fourth-last the first time under the wire. Unhurried through the turn, this son of Good Magic ($235,000 KEESEP; $290,000 EASMAY) raced several...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Abracadabra: Mage (Good Magic) is your 149th winner of the GI Kentucky Derby. The lightly raced GI Curlin Florida Derby runner-up, off at odds of 15-1, took advantage of a torrid early pace and rallied from as far back as 16th to reel in a very game Two Phil's (Hard Spun) by a length. Lukewarm 4-1 favorite Angel of Empire (Classic Empire) also came flying from far back to finish another half-length back in third. 'TDN Rising Star' Disarm (Gun Runner) rounded out the superfecta in fourth....

by Jessica Martini & Christina Bossinakis OCALA, FL - The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training completed its four-day run Friday with a  new record gross and average and a record-tying median in an auction which closely mirrored the 2022 renewal which set high-water marks for all of those metrics. Through four sessions, 698 horses grossed $90,805,000. A year ago, 705 horses grossed a record $90,723,000. The 2023 average of $129,907 was up fractionally from $128,685. The median remained unchanged at $65,000. "It was a great...

Mage. It's not a word you come across too often, though its roots are obviously entwined with those of "magus"--as in the three magi, the wise men who followed the star from the east-and indeed "magician." It denotes one of deep learning, sometimes to an occult degree. And if the horse bearing that name (a son of Good Magic, it hardly needs adding) should happen to win the GI Kentucky Derby, then perhaps we should view the man responsible for bringing him into the world as aptly honored. Because just...

A filly by Good Magic (hip 1112) turned in the fastest quarter-mile work of Saturday's final session of the under-tack show for the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training when covering the distance in :20 3/5 for consignor Tom McCrocklin. "I don't clock my horses at any point," McCrocklin said. "All these 2-year-olds I sell, I never have a stopwatch in my hand. But at this point, I think I know who can run and who can't. That filly has appeared to be fast for a...