LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Gustavo Delgado knew the disappointment of missing the Kentucky Derby due to injury. In 2020, when the Derby was delayed four months by the pandemic, Delgado’s Caracaro had suffered a leg injury after finishing second to the top 3-year-old Tiz the Law in the Travers at Saratoga, a race that set Tiz the Law up as the Kentucky Derby favorite. Javier Castellano felt the disappointment of Derbies past, going 0 for 15 in the race from 2005 to 2021, equaling the second most rides by a jockey without a Derby victory. On Saturday, Delgado and Castellano – both natives of Maracaibo, Venezuela – combined to feel the delirium of winning the Kentucky Derby as Mage, who had finished second to Forte in the Grade 1 Florida Derby five weeks ago at Gulfstream Park, outlasted Two Phil’s to win the 149th Kentucky Derby by one length before an announced crowd of 150,335 at Churchill Downs. Two Phil’s finished second by a half-length over Angel of Empire. Angel of Empire went favored in the Kentucky Derby after the scratch Saturday morning of Forte due to a bruised right front foot. Forte, last year’s 2-year-old champion and a four-time Grade 1 winner, was one of five scratches over three days that reduced the Kentucky Derby field from 23 to 18. “We respected the horse coming into this race,” said Gustavo Delgado Jr., son of and assistant to Gustavo Delgado, Mage’s trainer. “At the end of the day, I think [Forte] is going to be fine. We’ll face him down the road.” Despite finishing within a length of Forte – with a bad trip – in the Florida Derby, Mage was somewhat dismissed Saturday as the eighth choice in the 18-horse field. In addition to his penchant for breaking slow, Mage had only made three career starts. Since the filly Regret won the Derby in 1915, only two horses – Big Brown in 2008 and Justify in 2018 – had won the Derby off three starts. :: Get ready to bet the Preakness! Join DRF Bets and score a $250 Deposit Match + $10 Free Bet + Free PPs - Promo code: WINNING “Not having the experience, he proved today that it didn’t matter,” Delgado Jr. said. The experienced Castellano was ready for Mage to break slow, which he did. Castellano managed to get Mage over to the inside coming under the wire the first time but had only three horses beaten entering the first turn. The Derby pace was fast, the opening half-mile went in 45.73 seconds – the 11th fastest in Derby history – with Verifying and Kingsbarns battling on the lead. Reincarnate, Two Phil’s, and Confidence Game were in the next flight. Mage was 16th, 15 lengths off the pace. Castellano said his mindset was not to rush Mage, but also be mindful of Tapit Trice, the horse he felt was the one to beat. After the opening half-mile, Tapit Trice was last. Midway down the backside, when Tapit Trice did come up alongside him, Mage responded and began to move, knifing through horses. He continued a wide run around the far turn while Two Phil’s, under Jareth Loveberry, had slipped through the rail to take the lead at the five-sixteenths pole. Mage, meanwhile circled five wide in the stretch and maintained his run through the lane, overtaking Two Phil’s at the sixteenth pole and edging clear for the victory. “I knew I was going to win the race at the three-eighths pole,” Castellano said. “I let him move little by little because I knew when you ask him, when you push the button, that horse was going to give me everything he had.” Mage, a son of Good Magic out of the Big Brown mare Puca, covered the 1 1/4 miles in 2:01.57 and returned $32.52. He was given a 105 Beyer Speed Figure. Mage is owned by OGMA Investments, Ramiro Restrepo, Sterling Racing, and CMNWLTH. He was purchased for $290,000 at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-olds in training sale. The elder Delgado, 65, had won the Venezuelan Triple Crown multiple times. Delgado was inspired to come to the United States by the success of Venezuelan connections who won the 1971 Kentucky Derby and Preakness with Canonero II. “He grew up in a generation where everybody was talking about” the Kentucky Derby, the younger Delgado said. “He always felt he could accomplish that. When he was successful in Venezuela, he said one day we should go to the States and win one of those races.” Delgado had two previous starters in the Kentucky Derby, finishing 18th in 2016 with Majesto and 13 with Bodexpress in 2019. :: Take your handicapping to the next level and play with FREE DRF Past Performances - Formulator or Classic.  “It’s been eight years since we got here, this is the fourth time we qualified with a horse for the Derby, third time that we ran,” Delgado said. “Now, we’re here.” So was Castellano, whose previous 15 Derby mounts included favorite Bellamy Road who finished seventh in 2005 and Audible, third in 2018, his best finish. He wound up getting the mount on Mage after initially committing to Raise Cain before taking off that one. Castellano, 45, said sitting in the jockeys’ room he saw the NBC graphic showing his Derby record. “That gave me so much inspiration, I said ‘This is the year I’m going to win the race,’ ” Castellano said. Conversely, Loveberry was riding his first Kentucky Derby aboard Two Phil’s. Two Phil’s made the lead a little earlier than Loveberry wanted, but he valiantly fought Mage to the wire. “He was in a beautiful spot, the horses in front were going quick,” Loveberry said. “When they started to die off, I said I can’t get boxed behind them and have to check, so I had to make a slight move. It was a touch early, but I had to make it cause the hole was there. He caught me late; Phil, he dug in hard to fight back and he left it all out there today.” Angel of Empire, far back early, rallied to get third, three lengths in front of Disarm. Hit Show finished fifth, followed by Derma Satogake, Tapit Trice, Raise Cain, Rocket Can, Confidence Game, Sun Thunder, Mandarin Hero, Reincarnate, Kingsbarns, King Russell, Verifying, Jace’s Road and Cyclone Mischief. Larry Rivelli, trainer of Two Phil’s, was thrilled with his colt’s finish. “We couldn’t be happier,” Rivelli said. “Obviously, we’re here to win, but if you had to run second the Derby’s the race to run second in.” Less thrilled was trainer Brad Cox, who had four runners in the race and finished third with Angel of Empire, fifth with Hit Show, while Verifying and Jace’s Road finished 16th and 17th, respectively. “We were close, but we come here to win it, so I’m a little disappointed,” Cox said. Though the Derby was without incident, there was a lot of disappointment surrounding this year’s race. In addition to five scratches from the Derby itself, Churchill Downs had seven fatalities from April 27 through Saturday, when two horses died during the races. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.