When bloodstock agent Ramiro Restrepo and Gustavo Delgado Jr. attended the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training sale in 2022, they fell in love with a colt that wound up costing almost three times what trainer Gustavo Delgado had authorized them to spend.

They were undeterred and landed the Good Magic   colt out of the Big Brown   mare Puca  for $290,000. Then a wild scramble ensued to cover the cost. They succeeded in finding additional partners in what Restrepo now refers to as a “crossroads moment.”

They named the prospect Mage   and Delgado, who came from Venezuela to the United States with his son to chase the Kentucky Derby (G1), fulfilled that dream when in 2023 Mage justified his price many times over.

When Restrepo and Delgado Jr. attended this year’s Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale earlier this year, they fell in love with a Flatter  colt they knew would rank among the sale toppers. They were undeterred as bidding soared. Restrepo raised his hand at approximately $800,000, primarily to alert spotters of his interest. As others dropped out, he came in once more. His winning bid: a cool $1.3 million.

“The interest from potential partners was there,” he explained. “With Mage, it was the two of us swinging baseball bats trying to figure it out.”

The Flatter colt out of the Midnight Lute   mare Napier was named Ferocious . He is living up to his name. There is every indication majority owner J.R. Ranch, Restrepo’s Marquee Bloodstock, High Step Racing, and the Delgados’ OGMA Investments were right to extend themselves to seven figures.

The youngster made an auspicious debut, overcoming a poor start from the rail on a muddy, sealed track Aug. 3 at Saratoga Race Course to dominate a six-furlong contest by 7 3/4 lengths. He missed by a half-length to Chancer McPatrick  in the Sept. 2 Hopeful Stakes (G1) at Saratoga, a defeat that continues to point to him as a prime contender for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) Nov. 1 at Del Mar.

Ferocious lost a front shoe during the seven-furlong Hopeful at Saratoga. Of utmost significance, he re-engaged with the winner when it appeared he might fade. He displayed the will to fight, an essential quality no bloodstock agent can detect and no trainer can instill. He was, indeed, ferocious.

“Only good horses do that. They see another horse go and they start running again. Even in defeat, you can recognize the quality there,” said Delgado, who assists his father. “If that’s going to be his ‘B’ game, we’re going to be fine with it.”

A huge test looms in the 1 1/16-mile Breeders’ Futurity (G1) Oct. 5 at Keeneland. Win or lose, that should provide Ferocious with an invaluable learning experience as he encounters a very different pace scenario and navigates two turns for the first time. It should be an ideal set-up for the Juvenile, to be run at the same distance for a $2 million purse.

As the Delgados and Restrepo move forward, the “Mage effect” is in full effect.

“We all have to be grateful to Mage for what he did for us. He kind of changed the way we do business now,” Delgado Jr. said. “Because of him, people look at us differently. He opened a window of opportunity, that’s the best way to put it, and we are trying to make the most of it.”

While they may have once been short on cash, they never lacked ambition. “We always have set the goal of being at the highest level,” Delgado Jr. said.

Restrepo attends sales with spending power he once lacked while the Delgados and their team fall back on their experience with Mage, who went unraced at 2 but came on rapidly to capture the 2023 Kentucky Derby in only his fourth start.

Exercise rider J.J. Delgado, who helped to develop the son of Good Magic, is sharing those duties with Elmer Nunez aboard Ferocious. Veteran groom Moises Morales tends to Ferocious’ every need, just as he did with Mage.

“You know the saying, ‘It’s not my first rodeo?’ We’re starting to get that feeling with nice horses,” Delgado Jr. said.

They were careful not to ask Mage for too much too soon. Same with Ferocious.

“We are thinking long-term with this horse,” Restrepo said. “By no means has he reached his ceiling. By no means have the screws been tightened all the way.”

According to Delgado Jr., there is no pressure associated with Ferocious’ massive price tag.

“Pressure comes when you pay that kind of money and you start breezing them and they’re not showing up and they’re not doing anything,” he said. “That’s when you actually get the pressure. But he was doing everything so easy and so good, the feeling changes completely. You start thinking, ‘Oh, we’re going to have a good time with this one!’ “

If Ferocious should advance to the Juvenile and have that demanding race go his way, there could be no more idyllic place to celebrate than where the turf meets the surf at Del Mar.