Omaha Beach gets back to work at Del Mar

DEL MAR, Calif. – Trainer Richard Mandella can play his cards close to the vest, but he gave away his tell Tuesday morning at Del Mar after his top-class 3-year-old colt Omaha Beach had his first work on the comeback trail.

Mandella was smiling broadly, and did a little jig, as he watched Omaha Beach cool out at his barn following a three-furlong workout that was his first drill since prior to the Kentucky Derby.

“We’re back!” he said. “He looked pretty happy.”

So did Mandella.

Omaha Beach, under Alex Solis – the retired Hall of Fame jockey who is Mandella’s assistant – worked in company and was timed in 36.60 seconds. The time equaled the fastest of 20 at the distance Tuesday morning, but was the only work of 75 on Tuesday morning that was designated by the clockers as “breezing,” a label given out rarely in California.

“He was looking for action already,” Solis said.

Mandella said he timed Omaha Beach going out four furlongs in “49 and change.”

“We’re back on the road,” Mandella said. “He scoped nice after, too.”

That’s not insignificant. Omaha Beach, the Arkansas Derby winner, was the morning-line favorite for the Kentucky Derby but was withdrawn days before the race with an entrapped epiglottis, which restricts breathing. He underwent surgery in Kentucky to correct the issue.

Mandella said a scheduled work next week “will be more informative” about how quickly Omaha Beach will come around.

“He was amazingly good today,” Mandella said. “Next week, we’ll do a little more. I’m not worried about when he’ll race. Just want to get him back.”

Mandella said he’d like to make the one-mile Shared Belief on Aug. 25 if Omaha Beach comes around quickly, but said he’s not going to force things to make that race.

The time off also has allowed a quarter crack on the inside of Omaha Beach’s left front foot to grow down. Mandella said he removed a patch covering the quarter crack about 10 days before the work.

Also Tuesday, Paradise Woods worked five furlongs in 1:00 – the best time of 28 at the distance – in her final drill for the Grade 1, $300,000 Clement Hirsch on Sunday, and McKinzie went six furlongs in 1:11.80 as he continues toward next month’s Whitney at Saratoga.