Mage wins Kentucky Derby 149

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Mage is the winner of this year’s 149th running of the Kentucky Derby.

The 3-year-old finished in first with a time of 201.57 seconds.

Ridden by jockey Javier Castellano, Mage entered the race with 15-1 odds.

This is Castellano’s first Kentucky Derby win from 16 mounts, Churchill Downs said.

“I’m so thankful for the opportunity to ride the horse,” Castellano said. “The whole team gave me the opportunity to ride this horse in the biggest race in the world. I had a lot of confidence in myself this year would be the year. I thought this year would be the year. This horse was unbelievable today.”

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This is the first Derby win for owner and trainer Gustavo Delgado from three starters.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” Delgado said. “I have my entire family here. It’s such an amazing feeling. Sometimes you have to follow your intuitions, and that’s what I did with this horse. Sometimes it pays out and sometimes it doesn’t. It really did today. When I saw him started to make his move I felt very confident. When (jockey) Javier (Castellano) started to asking I knew he’d sustain it.”

Mage is the fourth horse to win the Derby off only three lifetime starts, Churchill Downs said.

“I felt so confident going into this race, because my dad was the trainer,” Delgado said. “And he was telling me step by step what he was doing with the horse. It was a masterpiece.”

The others were Justify in 2018, Big Brown in 2008 and Regret in 1915.

“I was asking for the wire, asking for the wire,” Delgado said. “Once he made the lead, it was how we had planned the race to happen. Everything went according to plan. This is the dream I have, a year-and-a-half ago, I wrote a note: ‘We’re going to win the Derby next year.’

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“Not having the experience, he proved today that it didn’t matter,” Delgado said.

Finishing in second place was Two Phils, followed by Angel of Empire and Disarm in fourth.

Churchill Downs said they had a total attendance of 150,335 people on the first Saturday in May.

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