Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey issued an upbeat bulletin Aug. 10 after Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) winner Orb breezed five furlongs in :59 1/5 at the Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland.
"Everything was great this morning," said McGaughey, who trains the 3-year-old Malibu Moon colt for Stuart S. Janney III and Phipps Stable. Orb is a leading contender for the $1 million Travers Stakes (gr. I) Aug. 24 at Saratoga Race Course.
"I don't know how he could have done any better," McGaughey said of the latest work. "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.
"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 depart Fair Hill on the morning of Aug. 11 and arrive at Saratoga at approximately 3 p.m. EDT.
Orb has made two starts since his Kentucky Derby victory, finishing fourth in the Preakness (gr. I) May 18 and third in the Belmont Stakes (gr. I) June 8.
"He'll probably walk under tack Monday, then gallop, and blow out next Monday," McGaughey said.
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