Orb considered class of Preakness field

BALTIMORE – Everything’s a go for Orb.

The Kentucky Derby winner was in a playful mood the day before the Preakness, making faces for photographers between nibbles of grass outside his stall at Pimlico Race Course.

“He’s really settled in well. He seems to be energetic about what he’s doing so I couldn’t be more pleased,” trainer Shug McGaughey said on a warm and sunny Friday morning. “We’re excited about giving him a whirl to see if we can get it done and go on to the next step.”

Getting it done would mean defeating eight rivals in the 1 3/16-mile Preakness to set up a Triple Crown try in the Belmont Stakes three weeks from Saturday. Orb is the even-money favorite, and there’s a growing feeling that this 3-year-old bay colt may be special enough to give thoroughbred racing its first Triple Crown champion since Affirmed in 1978.

“We’d sure love to have that opportunity,” said McGaughey, seeming relaxed and confident. “Probably the racing world would love to see it, too. It brings a lot more attention to what we’re doing from all standpoints.”

Orb extended his winning streak to five with a thrilling victory in the Derby two weeks ago, when jockey Joel Rosario patiently guided the colt from 17th to first in the final half-mile over a sloppy track.

In the Preakness, Orb will break from the No. 1 post, a spot that has seen only one winner – Tabasco Cat in 1994 – since 1961.

“Who knows how this race is going to go, but I don’t think it will be a problem,” Rosario said of the inside post. “He’s a horse that comes from behind, so I really don’t think it will affect him. I’m just excited to go into this with a horse who has a chance to win.”

A chance?

While rival trainers aren’t conceding the race, most agree Orb is the best of the bunch.

“Orb, he’s a freak. Right now, everybody should be rooting for Orb, except for the connections of the other horses in the race,” trainer Bob Baffert said – and he’s got a horse in the race, 12-1 choice Govenor Charlie. “Anybody who’s not rooting for Orb, there’s something mentally wrong with them.”

Baffert has been there before. Three of his five Preakness winners had also won the Derby, but were unable to complete the Triple Crown with a win in the Belmont. He says the Preakness is the least stressful of the three races.

“There is absolutely no pressure, believe it or not because you’ve just won the Derby,” he said. “You’re flying high and everybody’s excited. You don’t think about it. The next one (the Belmont) is the pressure.”

Getting to the next one may sound easy. It isn’t. Six of the past eight Derby winners did not win the Preakness, and McGaughey is well aware of the pitfalls.

“There are a lot of ways you can lose. Freaky things can happen,” he said. “You hope he doesn’t get in any trouble, you hope he handles the track, you hope he handles the kickback of the dirt, you hope he handles the day. If he does all that, I would have to think it will take a pretty darn good horse to beat him.”

Maybe it’s Goldencents, who did not take to the slop at Churchill Downs and finished 17th after winning the Santa Anita Derby in April.

Maybe it’s Itsmyluckyday, another top 3-year-old who did not handle the sloppy track and finished 15th in the Derby.

Or maybe it’s Departing, one of the three horses in the race who did not run in the Derby. Orb knows Departing well – the two were pals growing up at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Ky., and ran around together in the same field. The gelding has won four of five starts, and comes off a win in the Illinois Derby.

The latest forecast is calling for a 50 percent chance of rain.