Mage will stand at Airdrie Stud after retirement

Mage, the winner of this year's Kentucky Derby, will stand at Airdrie Stud in Midway, Ky., upon his eventual retirement from racing, the farm announced Wednesday.

“This is a very special day for Airdrie Stud,” Airdrie president Bret Jones said in a release. “It gives us tremendous pride to be able to announce the addition of a Kentucky Derby winner to our stallion roster, especially one as uniquely qualified to be a leading sire as Mage. ... We will forever be grateful to his incredible ownership group for this opportunity, and the syndicate we will assemble to support him will be the strongest in Airdrie’s history. He deserves it.”

In addition to his Kentucky Derby victory in just his fourth career start, Mage, from the first crop of the Curlin horse Good Magic, has finished second in a pair of Grade 1 races, the Florida Derby - behind champion Forte - and the Haskell Invitational to Geaux Rocket Ride. He was third in the Preakness Stakes.

Most recently, Mage, trained by Gustavo Delgado for the ownership partnership of OGMA Investments, Ramiro Restrepo, Sterling Racing, and Commonwealth, was a puzzling last of seven in the Travers Stakes on Aug. 26 at Saratoga. The colt is currently based at The Thoroughbred Center in Lexington, Ky., and is considered a candidate for the Breeders' Cup Classic in November in California.

:: Bet with the Best! Get Free DRF PPs and Cashback when you wager. Join DRF Bets.

Mage is out of the stakes-winning Big Brown mare Puca, whose first three foals to race are all stakes horses, with Mage joined by stakes-placed Dornoch and Gunning.

Airdrie Stud was founded more than half a century ago by former Kentucky governor Brereton C. Jones, who died this month at age 84. The farm stood a 12-horse stallion roster in 2023, and has been resurgent in that end of the business. In addition to stalwarts like Cairo Prince, Creative Cause, and Upstart, and the consistent young Collected, the farm has brought in several newcomers in recent years, including standing Girvin, whose oldest foals are 3, in his first Kentucky season after he moved up from Florida. Airdrie stands current freshmen Divisidero and Preservationist; has Complexity, whose first yearlings are popular this season; debuted Beau Liam at stud last year; and added Happy Saver and Highly Motivated to the activity this past season.

“I can’t tell you what Mage has meant to all of us that have been so incredibly blessed to be associated with him,” Restrepo said in the release. “He’s the horse of a lifetime. An impossible talent. What he has done, and will continue to do, for our team has been the dream of dreams. We have endless respect for the incredible team at Airdrie Stud, and will be proud to entrust them with his stallion career at the conclusion of his racing days. He is going to be very, very special for their farm - just as he has always been for us.”

In a statement posted later in the afternoon on Twitter by Restrepo which was co-signed by Mage's trainer and other owners, it was indicated that the colt could continue to race as a 4-year-old.

"With Mage's post-racing career set, we can fully concentrate on preparations for our year-end targets and 2024 campaign," the statement read.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.