Orb trainer preps colt for Triple Crown bid

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Now that Shug McGaughey has won the Kentucky Derby, it’s time for the 62-year-old trainer to go after another race missing from his Hall of Fame resume.

Orb will follow up his win at Churchill Downs by running in the Preakness on May 18, giving the colt a shot at the Triple Crown.

Orb arrived back at his home base in New York on Sunday, as did McGaughey and jockey Joel Rosario. The trainer was still absorbing what happened a day earlier.

The colt extended his winning streak to five races, splashing through the slop to win the Derby by 2 1/4 lengths, giving McGaughey and Rosario their first Derby wins. Orb rallied from 17th and made a sweeping move on the turn for home to win.

“It did not matter if it was wet or dry, the best horse won,” rival trainer D. Wayne Lukas said.

McGaughey has never won the Preakness in two previous attempts. He hasn’t had a horse in the race since 1989, when Easy Goer finished second to Sunday Silence, duplicating their Derby finish that year.

For a trainer who has always shown patience with his horses, McGaughey is eagerly anticipating the grueling Triple Crown campaign that compresses three races into a five-week span.

“I can’t wait to get to the Preakness and do it again,” he said.