Mandella leaning toward Breeders' Cup Sprint for Omaha Beach

While emphasizing that he’s “not ruling anything out this week,” trainer Richard Mandella said he is leaning toward running Omaha Beach in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Nov. 2 at Santa Anita following his terrific comeback win last Saturday in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship, which was a Win and You’re In for the BC Sprint.

Mandella said after the race that the Sprint, Dirt Mile, and Classic – all on Nov. 2 – all were potentially in play. But with a couple of days to think things over and observe Omaha Beach, he said the Classic might be asking too much.

“Six furlongs to a mile and a quarter a month later against the best in the world, I don’t know that there’s enough time,” Mandella said. “But I wouldn’t rule it out. My concern is that he had a pretty hard race. It was a big effort after a long time off. I don’t know that I have enough time to fill the tank back up.

“If I had to choose today, I’d be inclined to go back in the Sprint.”

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The Santa Anita Sprint Championship was the first start for Omaha Beach in nearly six months, since his victory in the Arkansas Derby.

Mandella said he gave Omaha Beach a couple of extra days off before sending him back to the track.

“He doesn’t like it,” Mandella said. “He likes to go out.”

Mandella said he won’t make any decisions until he sees Omaha Beach gallop after returning to the track to train.

Breeders’ Cup pre-entries are due Oct. 21 and announced Oct. 23. Horses can be pre-entered in as many as two races at that point, with a final decision due on entry day, Oct. 28, when posts are drawn for all 14 Breeders’ Cup races.