This year's Preakness Stakes (G1) post parade will be short but the second jewel of the Triple Crown will offer a favorite recurring attraction: A Kentucky Derby (G1) winner, Mage , looking to take the second step toward a classic sweep.
After rallying from 16th at the first call to register a clear victory over Two Phil's in the Kentucky Derby May 6 at Churchill Downs, Mage will start from post position 3 in the Preakness, a 1 3/16-mile test May 20 at Pimlico Race Course (race 13, approximate post 7:01 p.m. ET, NBC). The Derby victory saw Mage join Apollo (1882) and Justify (2018) as the only horses to win the Derby after not racing at 2 and his connections would love to see him again follow in the footsteps of Justify—the most recent Triple Crown winner.
Co-owner Ramiro Restrepo is looking forward to seeing the gates open, as it will mean the end of a number of little concerns. That said, the considerable talents of his Good Magic colt have minimized all those usual worries, including the freshness of a field exclusively of new shooters. Mage is the only Derby starter to wheel back in the Preakness.
"I've really been focused as much as possible on our horse. I was more concerned with: Did he ship well? How'd he walk on Sunday? How's he taking to the track? How are his energy levels? Who he faces is the last thing on my mind," Restrepo said. "If I start worrying about all these extra things, I'll go mad. I'll have no hair left to lose. So, I try to focus on what we have. He's a handy horse. And we have one of the best in the game on top of him."
The field lost one starter Friday when owner Godolphin announced that Lexington Stakes (G3) winner First Mission would be scratched because of a left hind issue.
"We are obviously very disappointed, but the welfare of the horse is our utmost concern, and we are going to take the necessary steps to determine the best course of action to get him back on the track," said Godolphin director of bloodstock Michael Banahan.
With the field reduced to seven, it will mark the fewest horses to go to the gate for the Preakness since 1986, when Snow Chief posted a four-length victory over Derby winner Ferdinand. After Friday's announcement of the scratch of First Mission, who had been the second choice at 5-2 on the morning-line, a revised morning-line listed Mage at 4-5 and grade 1-placed National Treasure as second choice at 3-1.
Mage is trained by Gustavo Delgado, who posted three Triple Crown sweeps in his native Venezuela before shipping his base to South Florida, where he has trained such grade 1 winners such as 2016 Test Stakes (G1) winner Paola Queen and 2020 Clark Stakes (G1) winner Bodexpress . Mage, campaigned by Gustavo Delgado Jr's OGMA Investments, Restrepo, Sterling Racing, and CMNWLTH, is the first American classic winner for the trainer.
Bred in Kentucky by Grandview Equine, Mage won a seven-furlong maiden special weight debut in January at Gulfstream Park and followed with a fourth-place finish in the Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) and a runner-up finish in the Florida Derby (G1) there. That set him up for his Derby victory.
After four years in which the Derby winner has skipped the Preakness, or the Derby winner was not clear going into the Preakness, or the Triple Crown race order was changed, Mage will fully return the traditional draw of the Triple Crown's second jewel: a Derby winner looking to take the second step.
It has been a challenging few years for the Preakness. Last year the connections of longshot Derby winner Rich Strike opted to skip the Preakness with their colt and rest for the Belmont Stakes (G1), where Rich Strike would finish sixth. In 2021, eight days after Medina Spirit reached the wire first in the Derby, his trainer Bob Baffert announced that his runner had failed a post-race drug test. Six days later Medina Spirit would finish third in the Preakness. Medina Spirit eventually would be disqualified from his Derby win—a decision still under regulatory appeal. Mandaloun , the currently recognized winner of the Derby, did not start in the Preakness.
In 2020 the race order of the Triple Crown was altered because of COVID-19 and protocols in place to slow its spread. The Belmont was contested first, with Tiz the Law winning a shortened version of that race in June. The Derby was conducted on the first Saturday in September, with Authentic holding off Tiz the Law in the stretch to win. On the first Saturday of October, Authentic finished second to filly Swiss Skydiver in the Preakness.
In 2019, Maximum Security reached the wire first in the Derby but was demoted to 17th for interference. He did not race in the Preakness, nor did Country House , who was placed first after Maximum Security's demotion. This four-year run followed a Triple Crown sweep by Justify.
This year, with National Treasure, Baffert will make his return to the Triple Crown since Medina Spirit's Preakness in 2021. The Racing Hall of Fame trainer saw regulatory suspensions and track bans keep him from competing in Triple Crown races in 2022 and this year's Derby.
National Treasure, a son of Quality Road , has been knocking on the door since earning a maiden special weight win on debut last September. He hasn't won since but has placed in three graded stakes—including two grade 1 races—and enters off a fourth in the Santa Anita Derby (G1).
Besides Mage, the only other grade 1 winner in the field is Blazing Sevens , who posted a decisive victory in last year's Champagne Stakes (G1). Another son of Good Magic, Blazing Sevens is trained by Chad Brown who will be looking for his third Preakness score with a familiar strategy: skipping the Derby to train up to the Preakness.
Three horses in the field punched their tickets to the Preakness by winning qualifying races for the classic: Chase the Chaos, who won the El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields; Red Route One, who enters off a narrow win in the Bath House Row Stakes at Oaklawn Park; and Perform—the field's third son of Good Magic—who won the Federico Tesio Stakes in mid-April at Laurel Park.
Local fans will have a rooting interest in Coffeewithchris, who will try to become the ninth Maryland-bred to win the Preakness and the first since Deputed Testamony in 1983.
Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 20, 2023, Race 13Entries: Preakness S. (G1)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1National Treasure (KY) John R. Velazquez 126 Bob Baffert 4/1 2 2Chase the Chaos (PA) Sheldon Russell 126 Ed Moger, Jr. 50/1 3 3Mage (KY) Javier Castellano 126 Gustavo Delgado 8/5 4 4Coffeewithchris (MD) Jaime Rodriguez 126 John E. Salzman, Jr. 20/1 5 5Red Route One (KY) Joel Rosario 126 Steven M. Asmussen 10/1 6 6Perform (KY) Feargal Lynch 126 Claude R. McGaughey III 15/1 7 7Blazing Sevens (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 126 Chad C. Brown 6/1 8 8First Mission (KY) Luis Saez 126 Brad H. Cox 5/2
