Kentucky Derby winner Orb prepares for Travers Stakes 2013

Las Vegas, NV - Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York will play host to the Grade 1 Travers Stakes Saturday, August 24. A purse of $1,000,000 will be on the line on Saratoga's dirt track.

Kentucky Derby winner Orb ready for 2013 G1 Travers Stakes

Kentucky Derby winner Orb, who arrived at Saratoga Race Course on August 11, turned in a 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 47.68 seconds and galloped out five furlongs in 1:00 4/5 seconds 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 [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," added Patterson. "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 Grade 1 Kentucky Derby victory, Orb finished a non-threatening fourth in the Grade 1 Preakness and third in the Grade 1 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," said McGaughey. "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.

Travers Stakes betting at Saratoga Race Course with OffTrackBetting.com

"Obviously, we're in the race to win, but if we get a really solid effort then that would be fine, too," said McGaughey. "I think he'll be awful tough."

Orb's competition in the Travers is expected to include Grade 1 Belmont Stakes winner Palace Malice and Grade 1 Wood Memorial and Grade 1 Haskell Invitational winner Verrazano from the barn of Todd Pletcher.

"They're the proven horses," said McGaughey 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."

Will Take Charge Prepares for 2013 Travers Stakes

Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas gave Will Take Charge his final preparations for Saturday's Grade 1 Travers with a five-furlong breeze in 1:01.88 on the Oklahoma training track Monday. The 3-year-old Unbridled's Song colt is coming off a runner-up finish to Palace Malice in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy at 1 1/8 miles on July 27, beaten a length despite a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 105. 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 Grade 2 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."

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2013 Travers Stakes Entries & Odds

Race 12 on Saragota Race Course's Saturday card with a Post Time of 5:46 PM.