Malibu looks like next stop for Omaha Beach

ARCADIA, Calif. – Omaha Beach, runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on Saturday, will be pointed to the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita, the first of two starts he could make before he is scheduled to begin stud duty next year, trainer Richard Mandella said Sunday morning at Santa Anita.

The Malibu is at seven furlongs on Santa Anita’s opening day, Dec. 26. He has sprinted twice previously, and has won both times. On Saturday, Omaha Beach finished 2 3/4 lengths behind Spun to Run, who led the Dirt Mile from start to finish.

“He came out of it good,” Mandella said. “Got off a little slow, maybe a little flat the first quarter.

“Maybe he bounced, like they call it – he ran his heart out the other day,” Mandella said, referring to Omaha Beach’s comeback victory in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship. “He circled the field after eating a lot of dirt. He doesn’t have much experience behind dirt. I’ve worked him behind a horse, but it’s not the same as a full field. It’s hard to get that kind of experience. That might be why he fell so far back the first quarter-mile.”

Mandella said “right now, he’s set to go to stud” early next year at Spendthrift Farm. But Omaha Beach could go to the Pegasus World Cup in January after the Malibu, Mandella said.

“That would be the next step. That would be the hope,” Mandella said.