Orb zips bullet half-mile for Travers

Kentucky Derby winner Orb, who arrived at Saratoga Race Course on August 11,

turned in a bullet four-furlong breeze over the Oklahoma training track on

Monday for Saturday's Grade 1, $1 million Travers.

Breezing for the first time since his arrival at the Spa, Orb was clocked in

:47 3/5 and galloped out five furlongs in 1:00 4/5 with exercise rider Jennifer

Patterson aboard. The workout was the fastest of 31 at the distance on the

Oklahoma training track. 

"I thought he worked a nice, sharp half-mile," said Hall of Famer Shug

McGaughey, who trains Orb for Stuart S. Janney III and Phipps Stable.

"Everything is going the right way. His work at Fair Hill (bullet five furlongs

in :59 1/5 on August 10) was great. He shipped up here in really good order and

hasn't missed a beat."

"His stride, when he's right, is so big, and he does things so easily,"

Patterson said. "He always fools me with his times when he's right, because I

just feel like we're galloping around there. I had that feeling again this

morning, which is really nice."

After giving McGaughey his first Kentucky Derby victory, Orb finished a

non-threatening fourth in the Preakness and third in the Belmont Stakes. He

recuperated and trained at Fair Hill in Maryland from mid-June until he was

shipped to Saratoga.

"I think the time off after the Belmont kind of helped mature him more, like

he did over the winter," McGaughey said. "We were just trying to get him back

where we wanted him. I thought the Fair Hill thing really worked well for him,

the different therapies and being able to be (outside). They kept him out for a

long time. Even sometimes the night watchman would get him out and graze him. I

think that experiment worked very well.

"I think he's more of a horse now (than he was immediately after the Belmont

Stakes). When he got off the van here, I thought I saw things where he kind of

matured as a horse."

McGaughey believes Orb, a son of Malibu Moon, is ready for a top effort in

the Travers, which could play a large role in determining champion

three-year-old male honors.

"Obviously, we're in the race to win, but if we get a really solid effort

then that would be fine, too," McGaughey said. "I think he'll be awful tough."

Orb's competition in the Travers is expected to include Belmont Stakes

winner Palace Malice and Wood Memorial and Haskell Invitational

winner Verrazano from the barn of Todd Pletcher.

"They're the proven horses," McGaughey said of Pletcher's pair. "Palace Malice

won the Belmont and came back and ran a big race in the Jim Dandy. Verrazano has

been a 'now' horse since he ran the first time. The only blemish he has on his

record is in the Derby, and he has come back and run two solid races down at

Monmouth, so I would have to think he's going to be very tough, too."

Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas gave Will Take Charge his final preparations

for the Travers with a five-furlong breeze in 1:01.88 on the

Oklahoma training track Monday.

The three-year-old Unbridled's Song colt is coming off a runner-up finish to Palace

Malice in the Jim Dandy at 1 1/8 miles on July 27, beaten a length

despite a career-high BRIS Speed Figure of 104. He stretches out to 1 1/4 miles

for the Travers.

"He's had a good month since the Jim Dandy," Lukas said. "I'm hoping the extra

little distance is going to help. There's a lot of speed in the race, and maybe

we can use that to our advantage. He's maturing nicely."

Will Take Charge, sidelined Lukas stablemate Oxbow and Kentucky Derby winner Orb

were the only three horses to go through the spring competing in all three

Triple Crown races. Will Take Charge was eighth in the Derby, seventh in the

Preakness and 10th in the Belmont Stakes.

Prior to the Triple Crown, Will Take Charge won the Smarty Jones and

Rebel at Oaklawn Park during the winter.

"He was a little immature through the whole Triple Crown," Lukas said. "I like

what I see now, so maybe we're just finding out about him. I look for a big

effort from him."

Palace Malice and Verrazano each emerged from their final Travers works in good shape, trainer Todd Pletcher said Monday.

Dogwood Stables' Palace Malice breezed a half-mile in :48 1/5 seconds, and Let's

Go Stable, Michael Tabor, Mrs. John Magnier and Derrick Smith's Verrazano went

the same distance in :48 3/5, both Sunday on the main track.

"They are doing excellent," Pletcher said. "Both horses are in very good shape."

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