OLDSMAR, FL— The Puma, the freshly minted Tampa Bay Derby winner, wasn’t the first choice. Nevertheless, he was the right choice for the same connections as 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage and now this colt has put them back on the Triple Crown trail.
“It’s a blessing,” said Ramiro Restrepo, who is the racing manager and bloodstock agent for The Puma’s ownership group of OGMA Investments, JR Ranch and High Step Racing on the day after he went from a maiden to the victor under Javier Castellano in the Grade 3, $400,000 ESMARK Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Bay Downs on Festival 46 Day. In the process, The Puma earned 50 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to add to the six points he got for a third-place finish in the Listed Sam Davis here on February 7 and now he ranks in second on the leaderboard.
The Puma, bred by Hidden Brook Farm and Brian Kahn, is by multiple Grade 1 winner Essential Quality, who was a two-time Eclipse Award winner but had yet to establish himself as a stallion. His dam is Eve of War by Declaration of War, and she had not produced a foal to race. When Hidden Brook consigned him at the 2024 Keeneland September Select Yearling Sale he did not meet his $95,000 reserve price so he was offered again at the 2025 OBS Spring Sale of two-year-olds-in-training.
The second time was the charm.
“What happened was Hidden Brook had another colt in their consignment, and he was a son of (2021 Horse of the Year) Knick’s Go who sold for $575,000. He turned out to be Ewing (owned by DJ Stable, West Point Thoroughbreds, and Freirich), who broke his maiden real big and won the (Grade 2) Saratoga Special in his second horse. He was in the same consignment. Ewing was a horse that we had our eyes on” explained Restrepo. “We also liked this colt by Essential Quality.
“When I went into the ring for Ewing, he went past what I had pegged for him. so we didn’t get him. I remember going back to the consignment and said, ‘Well. We missed out on the first one. Let’s bring out the Essential Quality again’. I saw him a couple more times and said we couldn’t get the first one but let’s get this second one. I was kind of surprised he went for $150,000 but you had to be there and see what the market dictates.”
The Puma is trained by Gustavo Delgado, Sr., who is ably assisted by his son, Gustavo, Jr., and they are the owner known as OGMA Investments. The Gustavos trained 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage, who was also ridden by Castellano.
“This colt was a little immature and he was a little heavy, but he was a strong-style horse. He was a little chubby boy, but he caught our attention and gave everybody the good feels. Gustavo Junior really loved him and said he has characteristics of Mage,” said Restrepo.
Having a serious horse back on the Derby Trail is deja vue for these connections.
“Every year (since Mage) we’ve had a horse that we thought would be knocking on the door. We had a really nice maiden, Victory Avenue (bought in 2023 for $375,000). We thought he was going to be special in 2024. Unfortunately, he got hurt. Then we had Ferocious, who was a runner-up in the (Grade 1) Hopeful and then in the Grade 1 Claiborne) Breeders Futurity (a $1.3 million buy) and we thought he would be our Derby horse in 2025, and now here we are in 2026 with another Derby hopeful,” Restrepo said. “We’ve been trying to knock on the door, and for a small outfit with myself as an agent and the boys (Gustavo Sr. and Jr.) as trainers we have a boutique barn. So being able to compete with the big boys year in and year out is a blessing. It’s a testament to everybody’s good work. It feels good to be here.”
The Puma was headed home by van to the Gustavos’ Gulfstream Park base on Sunday and was no worse for the wear from his come-from behind victory other eight others chasing the Derby dream in the 1 1/16th miles Tampa Bay Derby.
“It was a beautiful experience. He came back fine. So far, so good. Everything is a positive. Obviously, we have to let him have an easy week after the race and let Gustavo make the call what the next move is for the horse. It’s always been on a race-by-race basis. He’s now got enough points to go into the race (Kentucky Derby). Whether Gustavo chooses to pick one of the big points races that are in April or train straight up to the race is going to be left to the horse and for him to decide.”
Meanwhile, the connections are basking in the glow of the accomplishment by The Puma, who was unraced as a 2-year-old. He was making the third start of his sophomore season after running second in a maiden special weight at Gulfstream January 10th followed by his run in the Sam Davis.
“We’re just happy to be soaking up this experience and we’re really happy that this horse did what everybody (on the team) believed he is capable of. Running a maiden in this spot is kind of frowned upon by analysts and social media types but we’re fortunate that the barn has been around some good horses and they have a pretty good measure on judging talent and they have their hands on it. This horse rewarded everyone’s faith. We’re really happy to have another horse on the trail and it’s really cool to have another horse in the dance,” Restrepo said.
Canaletto is also a colt who was stepping up from the maiden ranks into graded stakes company, though the Tampa Bay Derby was only his second start after a dominating eight lengths maiden special win at Gulfstream January 6. It was the first time the Chad Brown-trainee was attempting to navigate two turns.
Canaletto, who is named for the renowned 17th Century Venetian painter, was a $1 million yearling buy for Coolmore, Peter Brant, and Brook T. Smith. The son of Into Mischief was also headed back to Brown’s main Gulfstream winter base after his promising third-place finish behind The Puma and Further Ado.
“I think this was a very encouraging race. It’s always a big ask to go around two turns for the first time, especially against that company. I think he acquitted himself very well,” said Coolmore’s Adrian Wallace. “Chad initially was very happy with the draw, being drawn wide, but then as the race unfolded he was caught wide throughout and that probably had a bit of an effect.
“To finish and only be beaten a half a length in a group (race) in the Tampa Bay Derby against such a promising field is not a bad run in only your second outing,” Wallace continued. “He did get a bang in the stretch as well and got squeezed and that probably had a bit of an effect, so all in all, he’s a horse that battled on well and we can go on it from there.”
Wallace added that Brown said he would think about future plans for Canaletto for at least one week but the Grade 3, $400,000 Lexington at Keeneland on April 11 at 1 1/16 miles could be in the mix. The Lexington offers 20-10-16-4-2 Kentucky Derby points to the top four finishers and Canaletto picked up 15 points in the Tampa Bay Derby.
Live racing returns Wednesday, March 11 with a nine race card. First post is 12:20 p.m.
