As under the radar as Mage was coming into the Kentucky Derby, it will be even more so when he runs in the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 4 at Santa Anita. Coming out of a last-place finish in the Travers Stakes on Aug. 26, Mage has been mostly out of sight, out of mind since he returned to the Thoroughbred Training Center near Lexington, Ky., in early September. Mage, trained by Gustavo Delgado Sr., has worked three times since Oct. 1, and his connections seem very happy with how he’s doing. Last Saturday, he worked five furlongs in 1:01.40 under jockey Luis Saez. “Luis breezed him on Saturday and everybody was super pumped with the horse’s workout,” said Ramiro Restrepo, part-owner of Mage. “His gallop-out was phenomenal; he’s really doing well.” Saez was scheduled to ride Mage in the Travers but was injured in a spill at Saratoga a few days before the race. Flavien Prat rode Mage, and after he broke sharply Prat allowed the horse to drop back to last. He never really got involved after that. Mage “was none the worse for wear” after the Travers, Restrepo said and, after deciding not to run him in the Pennsylvania Derby, Mage returned to the Thoroughbred Training Center. :: BREEDERS’ CUP 2023: See DRF’s special section with top contenders, odds, comments, news, and more for each division “He loves it there, it’s his fortress of solitude,” Restrepo said. “He never broke stride after the Travers in terms of his training. It’s not like after the Preakness, where we turned him out and gave him all this time off.” Mage is expected to work the next two Saturdays at the TTC before shipping to California on Oct. 30. “The surface is a deep surface. He gets a lot of bottom from it, he’s just a really happy horse there,” Restrepo said. In the Classic, Mage will be facing several 3-year-olds who have beaten him recently, including Arcangelo in the Travers and Geaux Rocket Ride in the Haskell. “It’s pretty cool being under the radar. It alleviates that expectation,” Restrepo said. Another Kentucky Derby starter who figures to be under the radar entering the Classic is Derma Sotogake, who has not started since he finished sixth in the Derby. Derma Sotogake, coming off a win in the UAE Derby at Meydan, was the buzz horse of the Derby, ultimately being sent off the 7-1 third choice. After racing near the back of the pack, Derma Sotogake made a brief run into contention around the turn and at the top of the lane, but ran just evenly in the stretch, beaten eight lengths by Mage. “Following the Saudi Derby and UAE Derby, he showed us his best performance even though he was definitely tired from traveling and racing in Saudi and Dubai,” Ayaka Segawa, an interpreter for the connections of Derma Sotogake, wrote in an e-mail. “We were proud of his strong mentality to run in different environment and run with other competitors.” Following the Derby, Derma Sotogake, trained by Hidetaka Otomashi for owner Hiroyuki Asanuma, was given about three months off before he returned to the Ritto Training Center at the end of August, according to Segawa. :: DRF Breeders' Cup Packages on sale now! Get everything you need to win and save up to 32% off the retail price.  There was a race Derma Sotogake could have used as a prep for the Classic, the Nippon TV Hai on Sept. 27. He was reported to have missed that race due to a foot issue. That race was won by this year’s Dubai World Cup winner, Ushba Tesoro, who is also targeting the Classic. “Using the [prep] race before the Breeders’ Cup, was one of our choices.” Segawa wrote. “The truth was he needed more time to get his original condition back following running in three different countries. We waited until he was sound so that we believe we can send Derma Sotogake to the BC with the great condition.” Derma Sotogake is scheduled to ship to the U.S. next Tuesday after completing a week in quarantine. Christophe Lemarie, aboard for his UAE Derby victory in Dubai and the sixth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby, will retain the mount for the Classic, Segawa wrote. ◗ Arcangelo, the likely Classic favorite, had his second workout over Santa Anita’s main track Sunday, breezing five furlongs in 1:00. He is scheduled to have one more work, presumably on Oct. 25. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.