What to Watch for in the 2023 Preakness Stakes
Castellano said he was motivated heading into the Derby when he saw the NBC broadcast’s mention of his 0‑for-15 record in the race. He has enjoyed more success in the Preakness, winning in 2006 with Bernardini and in 2017 with Cloud Computing.
Another challenge for the Delgados when they came to the United States was finding good horses and owners who believed in them. In Mage’s case, the Delgados teamed up with the bloodstock agent Ramiro Restrepo, whose family emigrated from Colombia before he was born, at the Fasig‑Tipton 2‑year‑old sale in Timonium, Md. They liked that the horse was a near replica of his sire, Good Magic, who finished second in the Derby and fourth in the Preakness.
They liked him so much that they went over their budget, spending $290,000. So they called up a few people to help share the costs, including the real estate investor Sam Herzberg and the entrepreneurs Brian Doxtator and Chase Chamberlin, whose Commonwealth app allows fans to buy shares in racehorses for a little as $50.
And so that melting pot of a group rode Mage straight into the winner’s circle on the first Saturday in May, leading to perhaps the biggest winner’s circle party in Derby history — even Mage looked small in the middle of it.
About 80 of the 382 people who invested in Mage through Commonwealth were there. One of them was Norma Barnes-Euresti from Michigan. When her wheelchair got stuck on the track, Gerardo Corrales and Jose Ortiz, who had just rode in the Derby, carried her the rest of the way.
