BY TOM VALLEDOLMO

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey has been around the racing game for a long, long time.

He has saddled a number of champions over the years – superstars such as Easy Goer, Personal Ensign, Heavenly Prize, Inside Information and Lure, just to name a few – but when he talks about his Kentucky Derby champion, Orb, he seems to, well, go into orbit.

Listen to what he had to say about Orb’s final workout for Saturday’s Preakness Stakes: “I thought it was breathtaking,” McGaughey raved about his colt’s four-furlong breeze at Belmont Park on Monday, May 13. “For him to go off nice and relaxed in :24 and change and come home the way he did … it sent chills up my spine.”

The official worktab showed Orb breezing four furlongs in :47.18 with an opening quarter of a mile in :24.47, coming home in :22.71. He galloped out five furlongs in :59.54.

Ontrack observers were amazed, however, with the ease in which he did it. He seemed to just glide over the track, in much the same manner he did during his final workout prior to the Derby.

For the 62-year-old McGaughey, who has won more than 240 graded stakes, the work was merely the latest chapter of a storybook saga he is authoring with the son of Malibu Moon, who gave him his first Kentucky Derby triumph May 4 when he swept to a 2½-length win in the slop at Churchill Downs.

Orb established his superiority over this year’s crop of 3-year-olds that day in the 139th Run for the Roses, but the question remains: Can he move one step closer to becoming the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978?

We’ll find out Saturday when several horses who ran in the Derby line up to take another shot at him and a handful of new faces attempt to assume the role of spoiler in the $1,000,000, mile-and-three-sixteenths second jewel at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.

Hoping for a reversal of fortune after disappointing Derby runs will be Santa Anita Derby winner Goldencents (17th in Louisville), Mylute (a rallying 5th in Kentucky), Itsmyluckyday (15th), Will Take Charge (8th) and Oxbow (6th). Confirmed starters among the new shooters will be Illinois Derby winner Departing, Sunland Derby champ Govenor Charlie and Titletown Five.

The prospective field, which at one time looked as if it would contain the maximum number of horses allowed to run in the Preakness, 14, has dwindled in the past few days and now looks to be firming up at nine or 10.

History shows that the Preakness is rarely won by a horse that didn’t run in the Derby. In fact, over the past 25 years, only three horses who didn’t compete in the first jewel have won the Run for the Black-Eyed Susans, but Departing and Govenor Charlie are rested and coming off impressive wins.

They also are handled by outstanding trainers – Departing by Albert Stall Jr., who saddled Blame to upset Zenyatta in the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic; and Govenor Charlie by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, who has won the Preakness five times.

Govenor Charlie, who set a track record in winning the 1 1/8-mile Sunland Derby before being sidelined with a foot bruise that took him out of consideration for the Derby, also turned in a dazzling work May 13 at Churchill, breezing six furlongs in 1:10 4/5.

The Derby runners who will again line up against Orb are hoping they get a fast track to race on this time and a more sensible pace than the suicidal :22.57, :45.33 and 1:09.80 thrown down by Palace Malice in the slop at Churchill.

Unfortunately for all the would-be contenders, the fact remains that Orb is riding a five-race winning streak, has shown he can run on any type of surface, can carry weight and handle any pace scenario. Plus, he has the hottest rider in the nation, Joel Rosario, on his back, and he continues to train brilliantly.

Favorites have fared extremely well in the Preakness over the last 25 years (10 have won and nine have run second) so Orb, who may go off at 8-5 or lower, also has history on his side as he attempts to be the ninth horse to complete the Derby/Preakness double since 1988.

Are all of the other horses running for second money? Is the Preakness shaping up as merely a stepping-stone for Orb as he powers his way to a date with destiny in the Belmont Stakes June 8? Is Orb poised and ready to become the sport’s next superstar?

All those questions will be answered Saturday when the gates clang open and the 138th renewal of the Preakness Stakes unfolds. No matter what the outcome, it should prove to be another exciting day of racing.

Tom Valledolmo is a former handicapper and editor for the New York Post and Daily Racing Form. You can access more of his articles on his web site www.tomthebombpicks.com.