Orb Feeling Great Ahead of Travers

Above file photo of Orb relaxing before the Preakness is courtesy of Eclipse Sportswire.
Racing Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey said Kentucky Derby winner Orb is doing very well at Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md., and remains on track for the $1 million Travers Stakes on Aug. 24 at Saratoga Race Course.
Orb turned in an outstanding workout on Saturday morning at Fair Hill. He breezed five-eighth of a mile in :59.20, which was the fastest of 20 timed workouts on Saturday at that distance.
“Everything was great this morning,” said McGaughey, who trains the 3-year-old Malibu Moon colt for Stuart S. Janney III and Phipps Stable. “I don't know how he could have done any better. The track had a little bit of water in it, which I think he probably appreciated. It was harrowed and everything. He worked great, came back great, and ate right up. We'll put him in the [hyperbaric] chamber tomorrow morning and the cold-water spa and ship him.”
McGaughey said he came out of the fast workout feeling strong.
“They had him outside grazing and they had to bring him in,” McGaughey added. “When they brought him in, they had a chain over his lip, so he was feeling some kind of good.”
McGaughey said Orb and stablemate Imagining will leave Fair Hill on Sunday morning and arrive at Saratoga at approximately 3 p.m. ET.
Orb has raced twice since winning the Kentucky Derby. He finished fourth in the Preakness Stakes and third in the Belmont Stakes on June 8.
Trainer Todd Pletcher’s Travers contenders Palace Malice and Verrazano are scheduled for workouts on Sunday morning.
Belmont and Jim Dandy Stakes winner Palace Malice and Haskell Invitational Stakes winner Verrazano will breeze at 8:45 a.m. on the main track in preparation for the Travers.
“At this stage of these horses’ season, having in Palace Malice's case just run a mile and a half and a mile and an eighth, with a lot of training between the Belmont and the Jim Dandy, I think we're at a point where we're just trying to keep them in peak condition," said Pletcher. "While these breezes are important, I think we have, with each of them, very fit horses. It's just a matter of trying to keep them going.
“In Verrazano's case, he ran a mile and an eighth on a very deep racetrack and handled it well," he added. "He showed he's very fit as well. So, it's just a matter of not under-doing it. They've got not only great foundations but some recency as well. Hopefully, we can just keep them as good as they are at the moment.”
PALACE MALICE WINNING BELMONT STAKES

Photo courtesy of Eclipse Sportswire