Orb works half-mile at Fair Hill

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Kentucky Derby winner Orb had his third workout since the Belmont Stakes, going a half-mile in 49.20 seconds Saturday morning over the dirt course at the Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland.

Trainer Shug McGaughey, who attended the work at Fair Hill, said Orb shaded 24 seconds in his final quarter and galloped out five furlongs in “1:01-and-some change.” Orb worked by himself under exercise rider Jennifer Patterson.

“I thought he worked really, really well,” McGaughey said. “I was very pleased with the way he looks, the way he came out of it. All systems are go.”

Orb, who finished fourth in the Preakness and third in the Belmont, will train up to the $1 million Travers on Aug. 24, where he is expected to meet Preakness winner Oxbow and Belmont winner Palace Malice.

Orb has been stabled at Fair Hill since the day after the Belmont Stakes. In addition to training, Orb has taken advantage of that facility’s other amenities such as the hyperbaric chamber and cold water spa treatments.

McGaughey said Orb will likely have two more works at Fair Hill before shipping to Saratoga in early August.

Two other horses McGaughey has at Fair Hill also worked. Imagining, a four-time winner, and Puzzling, a winner of two races, both worked four furlongs in 50.20 seconds over the all-weather Tapeta surface.