Via Bill Finley
The connections of GI Kentucky Derby winners magician (good magic) may have waited until the 11th hour to announce their schedule, but in the end they gave Monmouth Park the answer everyone there was hoping for. Mage will start in the $1 million GI Haskell S on Saturday.
The decision wasn’t revealed until around 4:30 p.m. ET Thursday when coach Gustavo Delgado, Sr. tweeted: “After much thought and planning Mage’s summer goal is to get to G1 Travers; We have decided to hold a prep run in G1 Haskell this weekend.”
The other option, relationships spoke for a few weeks, was to pass both Haskell and GII Jim Dandy S. and go into GI Travers S. after a bunch of work. Watching the Mage train, they decided a race in Haskell was the best way to accomplish their goal of winning the Travers.
Ramiro Restrepo, co-owner, said: “Since the day after Preakness, we have targeted Travers as our summer gem. “And we have identified Haskell as the best route to getting ready for Travers. We look forward to competing in Division I for the fourth time in a row and doing our best.”
The mage hasn’t run since finishing third in GI Preakness S.
Haskell lined up a strong field before confirming that Mage will run, but the race is now shaping up to be one of the strongest Haskell in years.
Race secretary John Heims said: “We have a Derby winner. “We have Bob Baffert’s horse ‘A’ in The Arabian Knights [Uncle Mo]. We have faucet Trice [Tapit], the 1st place winner who finished third in Belmont. We have the Geaux Rocket Ride [Candy Ride {Arg}], who hails from the cage of Hall of Famer coach Dick Mandella, who has been spotting this race for some time. We have more Anejo [Into Mischief]Hello stars [Candy Ride {Arg}]. We had a very good race and I think with the addition of Mage it was a great race.”
The school for Haskell will be drawn on Wednesday at noon.
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This story was posted in Top News and tagged Gustavo Delgado, Haskell, Haskel S., Kentucky horse race, magician, Monmouth Park.
