Stuart S. Janney III & Phipps Stable’s homebred Orb took advantage of a
blistering pace in Saturday’s Grade 2, $400,000
Fountain of
Youth, rallying to edge Violence by a half-length in the 1 1/16-mile test at
Gulfstream Park. The Shug McGaughey trainee likely secured a spot in the
Kentucky Derby starting gate while making his stakes debut, earning 50 points in
the new “Road to the Kentucky Derby” scoring system, and John Velazquez was up
on the well-bred son of Malibu Moon.
“The strides he has made this winter are just absolutely incredible,” said
McGaughey, who added that winning the Kentucky Derby has always been a goal.
“I’ve been worried about it since I started rubbing horses in 1971 or 2.”
Orb brought a two-race winning streak into the race, breaking his maiden by a
two-length margin at Aqueduct on November 24 before winning his three-year-old
debut over allowance/optional claiming rivals at Gulfstream on January 26, and
the late-running colt dropped back to seventh during the early stages Saturday.
Majestic Hussar sprinted to the fore when the gates opened and led the way into
the first turn with 3-5 favorite Violence chasing him in second through a rapid
opening quarter-mile in :23.
Majestic Hussar continued to quicken leaving the first turn, completing the
half-mile in an eye-popping :45 2/5, and Violence was racing up close along with
Cerro and Sr. Quisqueyano. Velazquez was content to allow the action to develop
up front as Orb bided his time about 10 lengths behind the pacesetter.
“There was a lot of speed and I was actually able to get right where I wanted
to be,” Velazquez said.
Majestic Hussar still clung to a short advantage entering the far turn,
passing the six-furlong mark in 1:08 4/5, but Violence made his move approaching
the stretch drive, overhauling his tiring rival as he seized the lead. Orb was
in full flight rounding the bend, circling rivals four wide, and carried his
momentum impressively into the final stages.
Violence completed a mile in 1:35 1/5 with a 1 1/2-length advantage, but Orb
was coming fast to his outside and caught his rival in deep stretch. Violence
dug in gamely when confronted but had to settle for second as Orb stopped the
teletimer in a very respectable 1:42 1/5.
“We ended up being pretty close to a hot pace and as he tends to do, when he
made the lead he kind of idles a little bit,” trainer Todd Pletcher said of
runner-up Violence, who sustained his first setback in his fourth career start.
“His last race (a victory in the Grade 1 CashCall Futurity on December 15) he
did kind of the same thing where he waited on horses. You could see Orb coming
with that long, sustained run and I think Violence was able to dig in pretty
well actually in the stretch and we just came out on the short end.”
“Violence kept going a bit, but I still thought we had him,” McGaughey said
of the close finish.
Off as 5-1 second choice among nine opponents, Orb paid $12.80, $4 and $3.
It was a 6 3/4-length gap back to third-placer Speak Logistics, who finished
two lengths better than Majestic Hussar. Next came He’s Had Enough, Cerro, Sr.
Quisqueyano, Joshua’s Comprise and Elmutahid. Falling Sky and Sky Captain were
both scratched.
Bred in Kentucky, Orb is the third and most successful foal out of the
unraced Unbridled mare Lady Liberty, a daughter of the Grade 2-winning mare
Mesabi Maiden. This is the female family of all-time great Ruffian; multiple
Grade 1 winner Coronado’s Quest; Grade 1 hero Private Terms; and, more recently,
multiple Grade 1 Argentine victor Suggestive Boy, who exits a convincing win in
the recent Grade 2 Arcadia at Santa Anita.
Orb improved his career mark to 6-3-0-1 and has now earned $321,050.
McGaughey, who also captured the Grade 3 Canadian Turf one race earlier with
Data Link, was asked what’s next for Orb.
“I don’t know what the next outing will be, but we’ll see and talk to the
Phipps and Stuart Janney and see what they want to do and go from there,” he
said.
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