While the thrill of winning the Kentucky Derby is still sinking in to his connections, Mage seemingly just wants to get back to business. Mage returned to the track Tuesday at Churchill Downs, where he jogged a mile and galloped a mile over a sloppy track. Wednesday, he did a bit more, galloping 1 1/2 miles. “The horse, himself, really needed it, he was asking for it, he went for a stronger gallop today, really feels good, nice to see,” said Ramiro Restrepo, part owner and the bloodstock agent who selected Mage last spring at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-olds in training sale. “He wanted to do more, he’s kind of bored as crazy as it sounds.” Restrepo said shipping arrangements from Kentucky to Baltimore remain undetermined though it’s starting to look more and more likely it will be by van, though a day has not yet been determined. Meanwhile, Restrepo, his partners, and trainer Gustavo Delgado and his son Gustavo Delgado Jr. are still letting the feeling of Derby success sink in before turning their attention to Baltimore and the Preakness. “It’s a dream so many people from all walks of life chase, to have that idea sink in you joined the club of 149 is pretty special,” Restrepo said Wednesday. “That rush of emotion is a lot to take in, it’s a blessing, we’re just rolling with it.” :: Get ready to bet the Preakness! Join DRF Bets and score a $250 Deposit Match + $10 Free Bet + Free PPs - Promo code: WINNING Jockey Javier Castellano, who won his first Kentucky Derby aboard Mage, was at Belmont Park on Wednesday morning to breeze two horses for trainer Gustavo Rodriguez. This after getting home late Tuesday night from Yankee Stadium, where he threw out the first pitch prior to the Yankees-A’s game. Castellano said he saw Jessica Steinbrenner, whose family owns the Yankees, in the paddock Sunday at Belmont Park. She reminded him of a conversation she and Castellano had several years ago when Steinbrenner asked him to throw the first pitch at a game. Castellano’s first of 16 Derby mounts came in 2005 aboard Bellamy Road, owned by the Steinbrenners. “She asked me to throw the ball years ago I said, ‘Let me win the Kentucky Derby please,’ ” Castellano said Wednesday. “She saw me Sunday and said ‘Well, you won the Kentucky Derby, you want to do it this week?’ Yes, absolutely.” Mage’s competition for the Preakness lost two potential players earlier in the week. First, Forte, the Kentucky Derby favorite who was scratched the morning of the race, was ruled out after Kentucky regulators confirmed late Monday afternoon that Forte was placed on the 14-day veterinarian’s list, making it impossible for him to have a workout in time to get off the list and be eligible to run. On Tuesday, trainer Larry Rivelli said Derby runner-up Two Phil’s would skip the Preakness. Rivelli said the two-week turnaround is “way too soon” to run the horse back. No concrete plans have been made for Two Phil’s. As of Wednesday morning, there appeared to be eight potential challengers to Mage in the Preakness. Disarm, the Kentucky Derby fourth-place finisher, went back to the track Wednesday morning for the first time for a light jog. Trainer Steve Asmussen said he has been pleased with how Disarm has come out of the race so far but has not yet committed to running. Confidence Game, 10th in the Derby, has gone back to the track for trainer Keith Desormeaux. :: DRF's Preakness Headquarters: Contenders, latest news, and more Red Route One, also trained by Asmussen, schooled in the gate Wednesday and also is just a possible starter at this point. National Treasure, the fourth-place finisher in the Santa Anita Derby, is scheduled to work Friday at Santa Anita for trainer Bob Baffert. First Mission, the Lexington Stakes winner, is scheduled to have a workout at Churchill Downs over the weekend. In New York, Blazing Sevens, the 2022 Grade 1 Champagne winner, and Perform, the Federico Tesio winner who will be supplemented to the Preakness for a $150,000 fee, also are scheduled to breeze over the weekend. Trainer Chad Brown confirmed via text that Irad Ortiz Jr. would ride Blazing Sevens in the Preakness. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.