Omaha Beach on target for Shared Belief Stakes

DEL MAR, Calif. - Omaha Beach continued his impressive training pattern with a six-furlong work in 1:13.60 on Monday morning at Del Mar, after which trainer Richard Mandella said he expected Omaha Beach to be ready to return in the $100,000 Shared Belief Stakes at one mile here on Aug. 25.

“Right now, I’d say yes, it’s a go,” Mandella said.

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Alex Solis, the retired Hall of Fame jockey who is now an assistant to Mandella, was aboard for the work. As in previous drills, Omaha Beach dusted a workmate and drew away powerfully coming to the wire.

“Next week will probably be a stronger three-quarters,” Mandella said. “This was good, but we didn’t want to do too much with him.”

Omaha Beach has not raced since his victory in the Arkansas Derby four months ago. He was the morning-line favorite for the Kentucky Derby, but was scratched three days before the race owing to an entrapped epiglottis, which was corrected by surgery.