Penelope Miller:              Hello, everyone, and welcome to our Pre-Preakness teleconference. Please note that Preakness and Black-Eyed Susan television coverage will begin at 3 p.m. on Friday May 17th, with Preakness Classics shown on NBC Sports Network, and Black-Eyed Susan Stakes coverage beginning on the same network at 4 p.m. On Saturday May 18th, Preakness coverage kicks off on the NBC Sports Network at 2:30 p.m., transferring to NBC at 4:30 p.m. for race coverage. At 6:30 p.m., the post-race show will kickoff on NBC Sports Network.
Today’s guests will be Shug McGaughey, who trained Orb to victory in the Kentucky Derby; trainer Al Stall, who will send Illinois Derby winner, Departing, to challenge Orb in the Preakness; and Hall of Fame jockey, Gary Stevens, who piloted Oxbow in the Kentucky Derby.
Our first guest this afternoon will be Shug McGaughey. He’s a Hall of Fame trainer who was inducted in 2004, and that was his—his victory with Orb on Saturday was his first Kentucky Derby win. Shug McGaughey won the Eclipse Award for outstanding trainer in 1988, and has had two horses run in the Preakness Stakes, Easy Goer, who finished second in 1989, and Pine Circle, who was fifth in 1984. Orb right now is back on track at Belmont Park in New York City, where he has been diving (ph) and galloping over a very muddy surface, and we would like to welcome Shug and thank him for joining us. Shug, are you on the line?
Penelope Miller:              Thank you so much for joining us this afternoon. Can you tell us how Orb is doing?
Shug McGaughey:            He’s looking good to me. I mean yesterday I had planned on galloping him, but when the weather turned the way it was I just jogged him. But he galloped a mile, this morning, and he looked to me like everything’s going really well.
Liz Clark:               Thanks. Shug, congratulations on the Derby win. I wanted to ask you about the fairly compact Triple Crown calendar. So I’m wondering if you would mind describing the challenge that Orb faces in this quick turnaround from the Derby, you know, and if he campaigns at the Belmont, you know, what the whole three in that short time demands of a horse, and I guess of a trainer as well?
Shug McGaughey:            Well, I’m an advocate of the way the Triple Crown is set up. I know a lot of people try to question it and spread it out and this and that, but I think that’s what makes it difficult—the difficulty in it, and the same as the 20-horse field in the Derby. But, you know, that’s my job, and you know, my peoples’ job is try and get him over the Derby, get him fresh and happy again, and, you know, starting next week sort of start pointing him for another race again on that next Saturday.
We’ll breeze him on Monday and try to put him back in the game, and get into Pimlico and sort of get him used to the surroundings, and, you know, but that’s a part of—it’s part of what we’ve got to do. Then the same thing, get him out of Preakness and if everything’s still a go, you get to relax a little bit longer with the three weeks, and go a mile and a half there at Belmont, obviously be a lot easier on me because I’m going to be living at home, and Orb’s going to be living at home, too. So, I mean I’ve been through this one other time, and I remember—I have nothing but fond memories except getting beat. But, we had a good time in Louisville, and we had a good time at Baltimore, and we’re planning on having a good time when we come back. I think that as of right now, Orb’s doing really well, and I think he’ll continue to do that.
Danny Brewer: Now, in team sports they often will say a team is a representative of the coach. Now you’ve got a pretty cool demeanor about yourself and kind of taking all of this stuff in stride, and Orb seems to be the same way. How has he connected with you and gotten your vibe, or do you think there’s anything to that?
Shug McGaughey:            Well, I do think there’s something to it. I think that a horse can sense nervousness, and I think they can sense if you’re a bit uneasy being around them. I’ve tried to take a relaxed  attitude towards this whole thing. I know a lot of times, if I feel like maybe I might be going to be a little bit nervous and maybe make my people nervous, I’ll just sort of stay away. I mean the last time we schooled him at Churchill, which was Wednesday before the Derby, I stayed back at the barn, because I said, all I’m going to do is I’m going to see things that don’t mean anything and I might relate that back to them, so the groom and one of my assistants and his exercise rider did it. And the same thing with the walkover on Saturday, I was (inaudible) the barn and sort of stayed in front of them so I wouldn’t be nervous, for one, and then wouldn’t try and make them nervous, because they’re all staying pretty relaxed, and I’m trying to stay that way, too. When we got into this process I told them, I said let’s make this fun, and so far it has been.
Danny Brewer: Well, that’s great, and that’s the whole idea behind it all. Now, with that in mind and the short turnaround, how hard is it to keep it business as usual?
Shug McGaughey:            It’s difficult to keep it business as usual, because it’s been a pretty whirlwind life I’ve been living since last Saturday night. And I’ve got to remember I’ve got 35 or 40 other horses that are depending on me also, so sometimes I’ve had to stay at the barn another—an extra hour or something, or like this afternoon I probably didn’t leave until about noontime just to sort of sort through some things, because normally I would leave between 10 or 11 or so. But, it’s all been a huge thrill for me, and you know, that’s part of the excitement I think.
Danny Brewer:Â And lastly for me, does the track at Pimlico present any special challenges to Orb?
Shug McGaughey:            I don’t think the track does, we’re having to move again, so you never know how all that’s going to relate. I mean we had to move from Florida to Louisville, and now we’ve moved Louisville to Belmont, and then Belmont to Pimlico. But I think we’ll be fine. Sometimes it maybe is a little bit more speed-favoring than some of the others, but I’m not going to worry about it. I’m going to take it as– what will be will be.
John Pricci:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Let me ask you, would you consider, say there’s a scenario where Orb is not showing you the energy level that you’re looking for, what you want to see, would you possibly then, you know, cancel that timed workout on Monday and, say, maybe just kind of gallop him up to the race once you get to Pimlico?
Shug McGaughey:            Yes, that could be a possibility, John. He’s fit enough. The whole reason I would maybe work him is to just try to kind of get his mind back on what he’s supposed to be doing, because, right now we’re trying to get him away from a race, and then we’re going to try and put him back in one with the work on Monday. But I mean we could get him down there and if I wasn’t pleased with his energy level before we went, it’s not etched in stone that he’s going to work.
John Pricci:         Got you. And one more from me. Let’s say, you know, we’re coming down—head to head down the stretch and it’s, you know, you on the inside and (inaudible) colors on the outside, how strange is that going to be for you?
Shug McGaughey:            Well, it will be different, but, John, we went through it before with Seeking the Gold and Forty Niner, so it’s not something that I’m not altogether not used to. And,, Departing is a very worthy participant in the Preakness, and just as we do, they’ve got every right to be there, and, I  hope we both have some good racing luck.
Debbie Arrington:            How has life changed for you since winning the Derby? Has it changed at all?
Shug McGaughey:            Yes, it has. It’s changed a bit. I mean, one thing is it’s a relief to have finally won it and fulfilled the life-long dream. And, there’s been quite a demand on our time; not only mine, but the people at the barn and stuff, but, that’s all been fun, too. And the other thing that’s much appreciated is, how nice the media’s been through this whole thing, and how much the  fans and friends, and people who aren’t even friends, the nice things that they’ve said especially, well even before the Derby and especially since then. I mean —I got home today and I started reading some notes that came through the mail from people that I really haven’t even heard from for a few years.
Debbie Arrington:            That’s really good. And has Orb—how is he reacting to all of this attention?
Shug McGaughey:            So far so good. He handled himself pretty well at Louisville under unbelievable attention, and since he’s gotten up here it hasn’t been nearly as much, but he’ll  be fine. When we get him to Pimlico it’ll all start again, and he seemed to handle it all pretty well. So I’m pleased that he’s getting all the attention, and I’m pleased that he’s handling it well.
Debbie Arrington:            That’s great. And what kind of horse is he around the barn? Is he pretty laid back?
Shug McGaughey:            He’s a little of both. I mean he’s pretty settled in what he does; he’s pretty settled in his stall. Yesterday morning he just jogged and we got him out to walk him yesterday afternoon and he came out (inaudible) on his back legs. And Jen was walking him and he was sort of pulling her around there just feeling good. So he does have that in him a little bit, but he’s fine. You know, he’s not a hard horse to gallop, and this morning he hadn’t galloped since last Saturday morning, and he went out there sitting on the track and he just stood there as long as we wanted to, and jogged a good ways and galloped and turned around dropped his head and walked home.
Debbie Arrington:            Very good. Well best of luck.
Tim Wilkin:         Hey, Shug. You’ve been in this game a long time. The—going to this race a week from Saturday, do you think you, yourself, will feel pressure?
Shug McGaughey:            I don’t know that I’ll feel pressure, Tim, but I found that I’m a bit more nervous than I was leading up to the Derby just kind of in the morning around the barn, and when I start thinking about it. But, I’m looking forward to it. As I said in Louisville, I can’t wait for a week from Saturday.
Tim Wilkin:         I mean did you—and you know the historical impact that a win could have, and then—in the Preakness, and then being heading back to New York. Do you think about that?
Shug McGaughey:            Well, you know, I’d be lying to you if I said I don’t, because I do, but I’m trying to block it out. I’m trying to take this thing one race at a time, but I just can’t imagine how much fun it would be if that were to happen and to come back to New York being—you know, really most of my adult training life’s been at Belmont Park and under the New York eyes, and, I’ve got a lot of friends around here and I think that it would be a heck of a lot of fun.
Ron Flatter:                                            Hi, Shug. Congratulations again for the umpteenth time I suppose. But looking at the new shooters coming into the Preakness, do you look at any of them as being a particular threat, or even a particular horse that could change the style of the race?
Shug McGaughey:                              Well, I haven’t looked at it deep enough about changing the style of the race. I mean I think Departing is a pretty darn nice horse, and he’s fresh; probably coming into the race the right way. Oxbow made a pretty good run at him there coming towards the end of the stretch, and Will Take Charge, they say he was making a run and got in some trouble. I haven’t really looked back at that. And if Chad runs his horse, Normandy Invasion, he’s a good horse.  I don’t  know, he may believe (inaudible), but, I’m not going to let myself sit around and worry about what—who I’ve got to beat or this or that. I mean I just—I think if Orb runs his race, which sitting here on Thursday afternoon I don’t see any reason in the world why he wouldn’t, I think they can all have him to beat.
Ron Flatter:        In that case, too, if there’s maybe a little bit more out front, I mean it’s hard to imagine more pace, but maybe if there’s more—there are more horses than just say, like Palace Malice was out there alone for awhile, if you have a few more out on the lead, does that change this at all in your mind?
Shug McGaughey:            Well, it depends on what kind of horse it is. If it’s a horse like Departing, if he got on an easy lead, he probably would be hard to catch. We’ll just have to see who it is. If the pace is too fast they’re going to stop. But,I really when I looked up and saw how fast they were going in the Derby, I really wasn’t worried that they were going to last. Now sometimes, a sloppy track carries people a bit farther, and I imagine that’s what they were thinking about with Palace Malice, we’re going to have a chance, let’s go and see and make them catch us. But I’ll have to just take that as—take that as it comes just. We caught a fast pace in the Fountain of Youth and he won, and we caught a slow pace in the Florida Derby, and he won, and I think that, I really think that these races he’s been a pretty convincing winner.
Ron Flatter:        To that extent, he’s won with a fast pace, won with a slow pace, and won in the slop. Does it give you that much more confidence because he’s shown that versatility?
Shug McGaughey:            I think so, I didn’t know in the Florida Derby, I knew what Johnny’s game plan was, because I’d heard through the grapevine, and we talked about it in the paddock that he felt that with no pace he was going to have to let him run a little bit closer. And he let him run away from the gate a little bit, and, we were able to catch up and win fairly easy that day, too. And then last Saturday we caught a, hugely fast pace, and Joel just sat patient on him, and I thought when he made his run in those horses I thought he got to them pretty quick and pretty easy. And, then kind of the playing starts, and it has been really in every one of his races this year when he made the lead he sort of turn it off a little bit, and, then he did it again on Saturday, and Joel just kind of kept him going and got him straightened out and he went on to finish fine. So, I think that really no matter what the scenario, we’ll be fine.
Ted Lewis:           Hi. Yes, Shug, you were referring to Departing a little bit ago. What advantage or disadvantage do you believe a horse that’s fresh like that will have in the race on Saturday?
Shug McGaughey:            Tthe one thing, he’s going to his legs under him and he’s going to be fresh, and they’ve been able to sort of map out a training strategy for him, and, if everything’s gone right, they’ve been able to hold onto that to where, we’ve got to come back in two weeks. But I think we’ll have—I think we’ll have fresh legs, and, I think that Orb will be fine. We haven’t overcooked him by any means over the winter, and I think he’ll be just as fresh as the rest of them even though he just ran.
Tim Sullivan:      Hi, Shug. I just was wondering, there seems to be a consensus that the Preakness is the more difficult of the races for you than the Belmont. Do you agree with that? And if so, what are the factors you think that would make this the tougher of the two?
Shug McGaughey:            Well, I think the biggest factor is I’ve got to ship down there and get him acclimated to the Pimlico racetrack and the scenario that that’s going to bring. Iif we make it through this one and we get to the Belmont, we’re going to be at home, he’s going to be in his own stall, and, we’re all ultimately around. I think that that’s all a big plus. When I was in Louisville, I used to live in Louisville, I trained out of that same barn at Churchill, and I was comfortable there. This is going to be a bit different. I don’t know where I’m going to stay down there, but I’m probably not going to know for the first day or two how to get from the hotel to the racetrack. It’s not going to be quite a comfortable, but I’ve got to kind of make myself get in the mood where it is going to be comfortable. So I think that that’s kind of the biggest challenge in front of us is—that we will have when we come back to Belmont.
Lenny Shulman:                Shug, take us behind the scenes a little bit. I mean you all are pretty stoic, you and Stuart and Denny, but how excited are those guys over having won the race?
Shug McGaughey:            Well, I think it showed on Saturday, really. They were in their own way they were pretty excited two men. I think that as much as they love racing, and as much as they love the horse racing game, that they were delighted to win—to have won America’s premier race. And, somebody asked me, have you all had a conversation since, and I’m going to answer that, no—or what did they say after the race? I said they didn’t have to. I said we’ve been together for so long that they knew what it meant to me and I knew what it meant to them and just by taking a look at each one of them, I think that pretty much answers the question for me. I’m sure that when everybody gets settled down a little bit, we will talk, but really we don’t have to, because we know each other well enough where we all know what this means.
Pia Catton:         Hi, Shug. You mentioned that at Belmont, you—or sorry, Orb will be going to his own stall and he’ll be on familiar ground. Are there any other advantages you feel to your familiarity and Orb’s familiarity with the track?
Shug McGaughey:            Yes, I think there is. He’s trained over it a whole bunch, so I know he’s going to like it. I’m going to be a lot more settled just being able to come home instead of going to a motel room. So I think that he knows the paddock, he knows the way to the racetrack, and knows his way around there, and knows his way home, so it’s not going to be an unfamiliar thing to him, and I think that that’s a pretty settling factor not only to the people around him but to the horse itself.
Jerry Bossert:   You looked pretty confident after Orb worked the Monday before the Derby. I just wondered how confident—I know you said earlier you said you feel a little bit more nervous, you know, thinking about the big picture, but how confident are you right now?
Shug McGaughey:            Well, I’m pretty confident, Jerry. Each day I get a little bit more confident. Sitting here talking to you, I can’t wait to train him tomorrow morning just to see again what I’ve been seeing since then. Sitting here on Thursday afternoon talking to you all, I mean I just can’t see any reason in the world why he wouldn’t go over there and run his race. Now, we’ve got another nine days to go, or whatever it is, and, as we know, anything can happen. These things can reverse direction on you in a minute. But I sure don’t expect that to happen, and so as I said, I’m really, really, really looking forward to taking him over there and running him in the Preakness, just as I was really in the Florida Derby and the Kentucky Derby.
Jerry Bossert:Â Â Â And on Monday, I know you said it’s not etched in stone, but it’s still scheduled for 6 o’clock Monday morning if he does go to work?
Shug McGaughey:            Yes. Yes, as long as the track’s okay.
Jennie Rees:      Hey, Shug. I was wondering if you’ve had many other offspring of Malibu Moon, and if—given the royal pedigrees of your clients that you would’ve ever thought when your first Derby winner would be by a stallion who started off in Maryland for 3,000?
Shug McGaughey:            Well, I hadn’t thought about that, but that is kind of interesting. Yes, I have had one other offspring of Malibu Moon, and he’s a riding horse on a ranch in Montana right now. So I’ve had two. They were both three year olds this year, and Orb won the Kentucky Derby and the other one couldn’t break his maiden.
Jennie Rees:Â Â Â Â Â Â That sort of sums up racing, I guess.
Shug McGaughey:            Well it does. I agree with you.
Ed MacNamara:                You’re welcome. I noticed that Orb has one (inaudible) 14-day break; November 10th to November 24th.
Shug McGaughey:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Yes.
Ed MacNamara:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Does that give you more confidence that he can handle the turnaround?
Shug McGaughey:            Well, I don’t know—yes, it is something that I’ve thought about that I have run him back in a hurry and he ran well off of it. And—but, what’s really given me the confidence is what I’ve seen with him coming out of his races; his races in Florida, whether he’s shipped down two and a half to three hours to sitting around in a receiving barn all day and then went over and ran when it was hot, and got on a van and went back to that place, and (inaudible) you’ll see him the next morning and acted like he’d never ran and I’m seeing a little of that here. After the race Saturday, once I got back to the barn he was standing up from the front of the stall and eating out of his hay rack, and the next morning he was—before we shipped him back up here, he was sure—anybody that saw him that day, he was sure enjoying the attention he was getting.
Ed MacNamara:                So that’s a big aid for you in dealing with something like as stressful as the Triple Crown. He seems to be extremely adaptable.
Shug McGaughey:            So far he has been, I would have never dreamed that he would be as effective over Gulfstream Park racetrack as he was, especially the speed favoring it was, and he took it all—he took it all great. And he went down there and he shipped down there three times to run and it didn’t seem to bother him any of the three times.
Jessie Oswald: I just had a question. When you took Easy Goer to the Derby in 1989, your children were too young to experience that with you. What does it mean to you to have your children experience this run with Orb?
Shug McGaughey:            Well, it’s been a lot of fun. I mean they’ve been very enthusiastic. My oldest one was over there, I think from about Tuesday on. He was spending the mornings with me, and would come back in the afternoon, and he’d get off work if he could, or—he watched him school a couple times. And the younger one was—he was working at Keeneland, but I saw him over there a couple of times in the afternoon and he was with Wise Dan’s connection, so after that was all said and done he came and walked over with us and got to participate in all that. I was tickled to death that they could be part of it, and I hope they can be a part of coming to Baltimore next week. I know the older one is. I don’t know how tied up Reeve, the youngest one is, but it made it that much better that Chip and Reeve could be there with me.
Mark Doshe:      Hi, Shug. How big of a factor is the confidence that Joel Rosario brings to riding Orb, and do you think that there would have been a similar result if Johnny V. had elected to ride Orb in the Derby?
Shug McGaughey:            Well, I think both of them are every bit as good as each other. And, yes, I do. I think Johnny would’ve been just fine on him. And he’s an excellent rider, just circumstances, you know, didn’t benefit him. But we’re tickled to death to have Joel; we were tickled to death to get him. And, to have the year that he started off with, this year, makes us that much more confident; coming off a good Gulfstream, a great Keeneland, winning Five opening night over at Churchill Downs. The kid’s riding with all kinds of confidence, and—as you saw him riding Orb in the Derby.
Penelope Miller:              Shug, hi. It’s Penelope again. Just one last question before we let you go. Will Orb be going into the traditional Preakness stall when he arrives at Pimlico?
Shug McGaughey:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â He will.
Penelope Miller:              Excellent. Well, thank you so, so much for joining us this afternoon and best of luck as we go into the Preakness Stakes.
Shug McGaughey:            Okay, Penelope. Thank you very much. Bye again, and thank you, everybody. I appreciate it.
Penelope Miller:              Up next we have trainer Al Stall, who will be bringing Departing to the Preakness. He is no stranger to Pimlico’s premier race, having finished seventh in the Preakness in 2007 with Terrain (ph). This year he brings Departing to the second jewel of the Triple Crown. Departing won the Illinois Derby on April 20th, and also defeated the Kentucky Derby runner-up, Golden Soul, in the Louisiana Derby on March 30th. Many of you know that Al Stall is not afraid of a challenge. In 2010, his trainee, Blame, defeated Zenyatta in the Breeders’ Cup Classic for the same connections as those that own Departing. Al, thank you so much for joining us this afternoon. Can you tell us a little bit about how Departing is doing?
Al Stall:                  Oh we’re happy with him. He’s acting like a fresh horse. He’s had one breeze since the race in Illinois, and he’s scheduled to have another one this weekend and ship over to Baltimore on Wednesday, so we’re very happy with the horse.
Penelope Miller:              Excellent. As we have press on the line right now, I will open up questions to them, and thank you so much again for joining us.
Al Stall:                  Sure. My pleasure.
Ron Flatter:        Al, on first blush looking at the charts, it would seem off the PPs that Departing would need a slower pace to win. Is that accurate from looking at the charts, or would you disagree with that?
Al Stall:                  A slower pace? No, I think a fast pace would help us. He comes from, you know, he relaxes really well and he lays off of any kind of pace. I mean he’s a pretty versatile and handy horse if the pace is slow; he’d certainly be closer. But if they went out of there like they did in the Derby, he’d have been back by Orb and then Mylute. So he can handle whatever’s thrown at him, but fast or slow, he’ll be just fine.
Ron Flatter:        And could you just go over what the thought process was to—as far as not going to the Derby, and why the Preakness, and maybe even just sort of the road map going forward after the Preakness?
Al Stall:                  Well, he just—he’d only had—the Louisiana Derby was only his fourth start, and we felt like he lacked a little seasoning in that race. He might’ve gotten in a little bit of trouble, but it just kind of looked like the gaps were closing a little faster than he could get to them. So after that race we said, well, the Derby’s just too tough, and it’s a tough race, and he’s a gelding who we’re looking for, you know, quite a bit of longevity out of him, so we decided to pass on the Derby. We didn’t even really consider it to be quite honest with you. And now that they moved the Illinois Derby back a couple weeks because of their lack of the points that they didn’t—they didn’t have any points to give away, we thought it fit our schedule very well and set us up possibly to run the Preakness. And after he ran such a good race, then we started considering the Preakness. So we just fell into that.
And as far as going forward, we just, you know, like I said, he’s a gelding and we’re just trying to do what’s right by the horse, so we’ll just, you know, as corny as it sounds, we’ll just take it one race at a time, and we’ll see how he does in Baltimore, and play it off there.
Debbie Arrington:Â Â Â Â Â