Orb overcame a poor start to rally from last and win a nine-furlong allowance optional claiming race at Gulfstream Park this afternoon, stamping himself as a colt of excellent potential in the process.
With Joel Rosario aboard, Orb was off just a touch slowly and had to steady a bit while in tight on the first turn. As a result, he was last of seven horses early on as Duke of the City and Mountain Eagle set a moderate pace of :24.32 and :49.11 seconds. Saylor's Creek and Indy's Illusion were racing right behind the two leaders, followed by Uptown Anthem, Looking Cool, and Orb.
Rounding the final turn, Rosario guided Orb to the outside and allowed his mount to advance, and by the time the field turned for home, Orb was challenging Duke of the City for the lead. Those two put on quite a show down the homestretch, with Orb going by and opening up a 1 1/2 length advantage at the eighth pole before Duke of the City re-rallied and closed the gap to just under a length at the wire. The final time of 1:51.05 seconds was about four-fifths of a second slower than an identical allowance race earlier on the card.
Indy's Illusion rallied well in the final furlong to finish third, 2 3/4 lengths behind Duke of the City. Mountain Eagle, Uptown Anthem, Looking Cool, and Sayler's Creek completed the order of finish.
The winner is trained by Shug McGaughey and is owned by Stuart Janney III and the Phipps Stable. He is a son of Malibu Moon out of Lady Liberty, by Unbridled.
-Keelerman
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