Kentucky Derby: Castellano takes off Raise Cain to ride Mage

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The connections of Florida Derby runner-up Mage have tabbed Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano to ride their horse in this year’s Kentucky Derby, a turn of events that now leaves Raise Cain without a rider just 11 days out from the race.

Castellano had originally given trainer Ben Colebrook a call to ride Raise Cain, runaway winner of the Grade 3 Gotham but a non-threatening fifth in the Grade 1 Blue Grass.

Luis Saez guided Mage to his impressive second-place finish behind Forte in the Florida Derby but he’s also been the regular rider for Tapit Trice since the start of his 3-year-old season. Trainer Gustavo Delgado Jr. knew he’d need to find another jockey for Mage in the May 6 Derby immediately after Tapit Trice’s victory over Verifying in the Grade 1 Blue Grass on April 8.

“In the end, we narrowed our choice of rider down to Javier and Mike Smith,” explained Delgado’s son and assistant Gustavo Delgado Jr. “We felt that because we had a lightly raced and unexperienced horse, we needed an experienced rider to counteract that fact.

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“And Javier already knows the horse, having ridden him in the Fountain of Youth. He is also almost like family. His father rode for my father and we all come from the same town in Venezuela. We are all very close friends.”

When asked about the fact Castellano took off Raise Cain to ride Mage, the younger Delgado said, “from what I understand when Javier gave the call he warned them that if the mount on Mage came open, he was going to take it. However it happened, it was out of our hands.”

Mage, who arrived at Churchill Downs on Monday, went to the track for the first time the following morning. He is scheduled to have his final Derby work on Saturday, weather permitting.

Colebrook took the news that he was suddenly in need of a Derby rider in stride.

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“We are running in the Derby, we just need a jock,” Colebrook said Tuesday morning. “No hard feelings, I can see why he chose Mage, he’s a super live horse.”

Colebrook said when he won the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland with Knicks Go in 2018 he didn’t have a rider until the day of the draw. Albin Jimenez picked up the mount and guided him to victory at odds of 70-1.

Raise Cain is slated to have his final Derby work at Keeneland on Thursday.

- additional reporting by David Grening

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