Janet Garaguso Photo

Mage has first Saratoga breeze in preparation for G1 Travers

by NYRA Press Ofiice

• Mage has first Saratoga breeze in preparation for G1 Travers
• Third-generation trainer John T. Kirby seeks first stakes win in G2 Saratoga Special
• G1-placed Raging Sea makes sophomore debut in Wednesday allowance

OGMA Investments, Ramiro Restrepo, Sterling Racing and CMNWLTH’s Grade 1 Kentucky Derby winner Mage breezed five furlongs in 1:01.03 here Saturday in preparation for the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers on August 26 at Saratoga Race Course

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

Mage was scheduled to work Friday over the Spa main, but had his work pushed back following torrential rainfall throughout the morning. Under clear skies Saturday, Mage stepped onto the track shortly after the renovation break in the company of a pony and traveled clockwise around the clubhouse turn to the finish line before turning back to begin his work on the backstretch. He completed his exercise under little urging from regular exercise rider J.J. Delgado and followed with a strong gallop out.

“Very good, because it was very easy,” Delgado said of the work, which was Mage’s first since finishing a game second in the Grade 1 Haskell on July 22 at Monmouth Park. “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.”

Co-owner Ramiro Restrepo was on hand for the work, and said he could not be more pleased with the way Mage has settled in at the Spa.

“I’m super happy,” said Restrepo. “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.

“We as humans make the plans, but sometimes Mother Nature alters them and we have to be patient. The track maintenance crew did a fantastic job with the track,” added Restrepo. 

Restrepo said that adding a win in the prestigious Travers to Mage’s resume would be a dream come true.

“For all of us, it’s a really special place. Gustavo and his family have come here every year since they moved from Venezuela,” said Restrepo. “I’ve only missed three Saratoga meets in my life and there’s even a book about Saratoga with a picture of my grandfather walking a horse here. Other than the Derby, the Travers is the race that you dream about. To have a blanket of roses on one shoulder and a canoe on the other would be something that you could only script.”

Mage will look to post another strong result in the sophomore division after his breakout win in the Kentucky Derby, which he entered off a close second to leading 3-year-old colt Forte in the Grade 1 Florida Derby. Mage exited the Kentucky Derby to finish third in the Grade 1 Preakness behind gate-to-wire winner National Treasure.

In the Haskell, Mage showed his usual strong turn of foot under Hall of Famer Javier Castellano to run down all but the victorious Geaux Rocket Ride to be defeated 1 3/4 lengths. He earned a 98 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort, the second-highest of his career behind the 105 he earned for his Derby coup.

“The Haskell was the prep for the Travers. We needed one race between the Preakness and Travers, and I preferred the Haskell,” said Delgado. “He came back even better out of the Haskell than he did the Preakness.”

Delgado added Mage will likely work again Friday over the Spa main track.

Out of the graded stakes-placed Big Brown mare Puca, Mage was purchased for $290,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. He has amassed nearly $2.5 million in earnings through a record of 6-2-2-1.

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Third-generation trainer John T. Kirby seeks first stakes win in G2 Saratoga Special

John Timothy Kirby has already won one race this summer at Saratoga Race Course and the 26-year-old conditioner will look to break through at stakes level when he sends out maiden winner South America in next Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Herb Moelis Memorial Saratoga Special, a 6 1/2-furlong sprint for juveniles

His grandfather, the late John F. Kirby, and father, Timothy Kirby, enjoyed immeasurable success in Massachusetts in particular at the now defunct Suffolk Downs.

“They won a ton of those Mass-bred stakes and some open stakes,” said John T. Kirby. “When my grandfather died, one of the stewards [Susan Walsh] from Suffolk wrote a nice story about him and said between my grandfather and my father with one of our homebred horses for a span of 30 years, every year, won at least one Mass-bred stakes race.”

One of their more memorable stakes winners was John F. Kirby’s Massachusetts homebred But Jim, a chestnut son of Rise Jim, who put together a record of 84-12-10-18 for purse earnings of $188,699 while racing from 1989-98.

The eldest Kirby saddled the hard-knocking chestnut to a trio of stakes scores, including the 1992 and 1994 edition of the Tonight's The Night Handicap at Suffolk Downs. He handed the torch to his son and Timothy Kirby picked up his first stakes win when But Jim captured the 1995 Rise Jim at the now defunct East Boston track.

John T. Kirby said But Jim, a 1987 foal out of the Liberty Hall mare But What, came from hearty stock.

“He only passed away maybe four years ago. He lived into his 30s,” Kirby said. “He was a really cool horse - they were all runners. We had his mother at the farm until she was in her 30s.”

The younger Kirby hung out his own shingle in 2017 and has enjoyed modest success thus far with 39 wins from 360 starters for purse earnings in excess of $1.1 million.

He picked up his first win at Saratoga with the appropriately named On Our Way Boyz, who graduated in an off-the-turf maiden claiming tilt in September 2021 and doubled up on his Spa success when Maggie broke through at maiden claiming level here on July 16 with a neck score as the mutuel favorite.

His first Spa win ignited a special relationship with jockey Luis Saez, who picked up the mount aboard On Our Way Boyz and later guided Runningwscissors to a 21-1 upset score last June at Belmont. He also piloted Hero Tiger to a Claiming Crown score in November at Churchill Downs.

“It actually happened by accident,” recalled Kirby of Saez’ score with On Our Way Boyz. “We had Javier Castellano named on the horse and he was named on another one on the also-eligible list - that horse drew in and Javier chose the other horse. It was an off-the-turf race and that was the year Saez won the riding title. His mount scratched when it came off-the-turf and we were lucky enough to get Saez and he won that race for us.

“The next time we rode him was at Belmont with Runningwscissors and he won a '2 other than' allowance race and paid $45,” added Kirby, with a laugh. “Luis rides great for us and Kiaran McLaughlin, his agent, is great to deal with. They know we don't bring horses up there unless we have a shot.”

Saez is already engaged to ride South America in the Saratoga Special, picking up the mount from Silvestre Gonzalez, who guided the chestnut gelding to victory on debut in a 4 1/2-furlong maiden special weight on July 19 at Parx Racing. There, he broke alertly and established command through an opening quarter-mile in 22.68 seconds, widening his advantage through a half-mile in 46.56 en route to a 5 1/4-length score in a final time of 53.12 to garner a 68 Beyer Speed Figure.

Kirby breezed the Daddy Long Legs gelding three times from the gate over the Parx main track ahead of his visually-appealing graduation.

“The rider didn't even ask him to make the lead, he just did it on his own,” said Kirby. “Two works before he ran, he really breezed impressively by himself without company. After that, we were pretty excited about him. From the time he came into us here - on looks alone - we knew he was going to be better than average."

The chestnut has since breezed back a half-mile in 49.81 on July 30 at Parx as he prepares to stretch out another two furlongs.

“He came out of it very good. He knows he's the man. The way he trains, he could definitely go further,” Kirby said.

And in much the same way that John F. Kirby passed the torch to Timothy Kirby, the newest conditioner in the family is also benefitting from some helpful advice from his father.

“My dad is great with the babies. He taught me everything I know. The older horses we claim are pretty easy - just keep them happy and they run,” Kirby said. “But my dad’s given me a lot of good advice with this guy. He is very patient with him. He was a little rogue when he came to us, so we let him pick things up slowly and get a good foundation under him and not run until they're really ready.

“My dad says, 'wait, or they'll make you wait,’” added Kirby.

Patrick O’Sullivan’s Florida-bred South America will mark Kirby’s second stakes starter following Runningwscissors, who ran seventh in last year’s Parx Dash.

Kirby said he will ship South America up to Saratoga on the morning of the race as he looks to secure a memorable score for a family steeped in racing tradition.

“That's what we've done every time we run in New York. We've had luck with it, so we don't want to upset the apple cart,” Kirby said. “To get a stakes win - a graded stakes win - would be unbelievable. Saratoga is the toughest place in the country to win a race if you ask me. To win any kind of race there is special, but especially a big race like that going up against the top trainers in the county and the top juveniles. It would be the biggest win my family's ever had.”

Bred in Florida by Patrice Veilleux Roth and Dr. Robert M. Roth, South America is out of the Virginia-bred Hard Spun mare Spun Copper, who is a half-sister to the stakes-winning Maryland-bred Sky's Not Falling.

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G1-placed Raging Sea makes sophomore debut in Wednesday allowance

Alpha Delta Stables’ Kentucky homebred Raging Sea will make her first start since a late-closing third in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies in Race 8 on Wednesday, an allowance optional claimer going one mile through the Wilson Chute at Saratoga Race Course.

The Chad Brown-trained Curlin chestnut returns to the site of her debut victory last August going seven furlongs, where she stalked two lengths off the pace in between horses from fourth before dueling with Peace Cruiser in deep stretch to win by a neck.

The winning effort, which garnered a 74 Beyer Speed Figure, prompted the connections to try Grade 1 company in the Alcibiades at Keeneland, where she crossed the wire third beaten a neck, but was disqualified to fourth.

In the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, Raging Sea drew the outside in the full field of 13 and rated in between horses from mid-pack. She lost ground around the far turn, but rallied in the stretch drive to round out the trifecta. 

Raging Sea has worked consistently since she resumed training in late June. Jon Clay of Alpha Delta Stables expressed excitement to get his black type earning filly back to serious business.

“She hasn’t really missed a beat after she had her rest,” Clay said. “She’s been training well with Chad and he still thinks as highly of her right now as he did last year. We have a couple of races targeted down the line and we just want to get her going. She probably should have run in a stakes race to start out, but we had to find a spot and that’s why we're in the allowance race. I think she’ll handle [the Wilson Chute] well. She’s been very professional through all of her training since she’s been back with Chad. I don’t see any problems with that.”

Clay mentioned the Grade 1, $1 million Cotillion on September 23 at Parx Racing as a possible future goal.

“That’s one of the races on our schedule,” Clay said. “We just have to get through this race, but that race is one of several options. I try and take a very patient approach and take things day by day. I don’t like to dream too far ahead.”

Raging Sea hails from the prominent maternal lines of several reine-de-course mares, including her third dam Weekend Surprise – who produced the highly influential stallion and 1992 Horse of the Year A.P. Indy. Her fourth dam Lassie Dear also produced Charming Lassie, who was the dam of 2000 Champion Older Horse and prominent sire Lemon Drop Kid.

“That cross with Curlin over the A.P. Indy family works quite well,” Clay noted. “Because of some issues, she was never a sales candidate, so I’m very fortunate that I still have her rather than selling her to somebody else.”

Raging Sea will be piloted by Flavien Prat from post 3.