Omaha Beach returns with gutsy win in Santa Anita Sprint Championship

ARCADIA, Calif. – In the nearly six months since Omaha Beach had last raced, he was scratched from the Kentucky Derby, had throat surgery, had a comeback race at Del Mar scrapped, then another at Churchill Downs, before trainer Richard Mandella, with no other options really, decided to run him at the shortest distance of his career on Saturday in the six-furlong Santa Anita Sprint Championship.

Less than 69 seconds after Omaha Beach broke from the gate, and only moments after Omaha Beach got up in the final jumps to defeat the sprint specialist Shancelot, Mandella could finally, at long last, exhale. The best horse in his barn was back, with nary a speck of rust on his dark bay legs, and the possibilities for the Breeders’ Cup were wide open.

“For about two months,” Mandella said when asked how long he’d been waiting for this day. “Today kept dragging on and dragging on. I’m very relieved to have him back.”

Omaha Beach ($7.20), under Mike Smith, bravely came up the rail and caught Shancelot to win by a head, with a six-furlong clocking of 1:08.79 that is smoking for the way this fast, but dull, main track plays. The Santa Anita Sprint Championship, a Grade 1 race with a purse of $300,351, is a Win and You’re In for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, but Mandella said he will ponder three Breeders’ Cup races for Omaha Beach, all Nov. 2 – the Sprint, Dirt Mile, and Classic.

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The Classic had seemed all but gone after the delays to Omaha Beach’s comeback, but Mandella in his post-race comments referenced old-time California stars like Ack Ack and Ancient Title and their ability to win sprints and races at 1 1/4 miles, the distance of the Classic. That doesn’t mean Omaha Beach is running in the Classic. It does mean Mandella is at least thinking of it.

“I’m going to drink some champagne and think it over,” he said. “I’ll figure it out in the next day or two. Anything is possible – Sprint, Dirt Mile, mile and a quarter.”

“Maybe,” Mandella added jokingly, “all three.”

Omaha Beach had good enough speed leaving the gate Saturday to stay within hailing distance of Shancelot, the 1-5 favorite. Shancelot was up by two lengths after a quarter in 21.87 seconds, with Flagstaff closest. As the field neared the quarter pole, Flagstaff began to weaken slightly, and Omaha Beach moved into second as Shancelot clicked off a half in 44.38 seconds.

The margin at that point was 1 1/2 lengths, and it remained that until nearing the furlong grounds. Omaha Beach started to cut into the margin, a little more, then more still, and a final surge in the closing yards got him up in time.

“Mr. Mandella had him ready,” said his jockey, Mike Smith. “His last work was brilliant, and he ran to his work.”

Shancelot finished 2 1/2 lengths in front of third-place Flagstaff, then came California Street, Horse Greedy, and One Flew South, in that order.

“Such a relief,” Mandella said. “You never know until they come back. He was a little fresh going to the gate. We just wanted to let him run his race.

“I was sweating all day. The horse he beat is outstanding. My horse is too.”

Mandella marveled that Omaha Beach adjusted to going six furlongs after being pointed to races at a mile until minor hiccups in August and September put him here.

“I had two weeks to make a sprinter out of him,” Mandella said. “Really good horses can adapt.”

Omaha Beach, who is campaigned by Rick Porter's Fox Hill Farms, has now won four times in eight starts. He owns two Grade 1 wins this year, the Arkansas Derby at 1 1/8 miles being the other. The win Saturday was in a race for older horses, so he now owns a victory in that important category, too, a significant aspect when it comes to determining year-end awards in this open 3-year-old male division, whose ranks of contenders just got one more solid prospect who is headed to the Breeders’ Cup.