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Orb doing well after Preakness fourth
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| Orb, seen here relaxing prior to his run in Saturday's Preakness,
could get a rematch with Oxbow in the Belmont
(Spencer Tulis/Horsephotos.com) |
Kentucky Derby hero Orb boarded a van at Pimlico bound for New
York at 7 a.m. (EDT) Sunday morning, showing no ill effects from Saturday's
disappointing fourth-place finish in Preakness 138.
"He came out of it fine. He's sound. Physically, everything
is fine," trainer Shug McGaughey said. "We'll get him up the road and evaluate
the situation to see where we'll go."
McGaughey didn't have a concrete explanation for Orb's
surprisingly dull performance as the 3-5 favorite that followed a sharp 2 1/2-length victory two weeks earlier at Churchill Downs.
"The racetrack was probably deep down the inside there.
There was a lot of throwback. We couldn't get to the outside. I thought he was
in good position and (jockey Joel Rosario) took him to the right position, and all of a sudden he
had no horse. Why that was, I don't know," the Hall of Fame trainer said.
"I
think it wasn't our day and it was Oxbow's day."
Saturday's disappointment in the middle jewel of the Triple Crown only made McGaughey
appreciate the Derby victory even more.
"Winning the Derby was my lifelong dream. We won it," McGaughey said. "I
would have loved to win (Saturday) to take it to the next level, so I do
appreciate how tough it is.
"If I have the opportunity again
(to compete in the Derby), I may cherish it even more, because I've seen how
tough it is to get it done. Maybe I do appreciate how tough it is to win more.
As brilliant as we were two weeks ago, we weren't as brilliant yesterday."
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McGaughey will monitor Stuart Janney III and Phipps
Stable's homebred colt's training at Belmont Park before deciding his status for
the Belmont Stakes on June 8.
"I want to see him bounce back and see his soundness level
and his energy level," he explained. "I think there are a lot of good wins down the
road for him."
After Orb arrived at Belmont Park at 11:30 a.m., McGaughey reported that his
charge had shipped back home well.
"He was already in his stall when I got back here and seemed to be fine," he
said. "We'll walk him a good while this afternoon and just kind of see what we
have. The Belmont Stakes is on our radar screen.
"I talked to Mr. Janney this morning. He and Mr. Phipps had talked on their
way to the airport. We just all came to the conclusion that we should just watch
Orb and see. I think everything is in good shape. We'd like to run.
"But yesterday took a little bit out of him and he's already run five times
this year and it's only the middle of May. I'd sure like to have him fresh for
Saratoga and a Jim Dandy/Travers kind of a go.
"He's just going to have to tell us what we want to see. If he's jumping out
of his skin, we're going to bring him over here (to run in the Belmont Stakes).
"I might know in about a week. I just have to wait and see. Everything's gone
great all year until yesterday. But I don't anticipate any problems. I don't
think he's knocked out by any means."
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