Sprint victory opens several Breeders' Cup options for Omaha Beach

ARCADIA, Calif. – A day after Omaha Beach scored a hard-fought win in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Sprint Championship, trainer Richard Mandella was contemplating the 3-year-old colt’s next start with the Breeders’ Cup Sprint here on Nov. 2 at the fore of the discussion.

In his first start since a win in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park in April, Omaha Beach rallied through the stretch to catch the graded sprint stakes winner Shancelot in the final strides.

Omaha Beach won the $300,351 Santa Anita Sprint Championship by a head. The victory launched discussions as to which Breeders’ Cup race best fits Omaha Beach, who has won 4 of 8 starts and earned $1,301,800.

“Nothing is out of the question,” Mandella said on Sunday morning in his stable office. “But the Sprint is very interesting now.”

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The $2 million Sprint is run at six furlongs. Other options are the $1 million Dirt Mile or the $6 million Classic at 1 1/4 miles. Mandella said he had a preliminary conversation with Rick Porter, who owns Omaha Beach, about race plans.

“He told me to do what I think is best,” Mandella said. “I’m not going to try to figure it out today. We’ll get him back to the track and figure it out. It’s too early to tell.

“I’d have to think of the Classic. I don’t know if I’d ask that of him. He had to run hard yesterday and he did. We’ve got just short of a month to come back.”

Omaha Beach has never run 1 1/4 miles. He won the Arkansas Derby at 1 1/8 miles.

Prior to Saturday, Omaha Beach had never run a race as short as six furlongs. He won a maiden special weight race at seven furlongs by nine lengths in his first attempt at that distance.

“First time, I ran him seven furlongs, he won easily,” Mandella said. “He’s just a good horse.”

Mandella has wanted to showcase Omaha Beach for months. After the Arkansas Derby win, Omaha Beach was the morning-line favorite for the Kentucky Derby, but was withdrawn after being diagnosed with an entrapped epiglottis a few days before the race.

After undergoing a surgical procedure, Omaha Beach had a brief vacation in Kentucky before rejoining Mandella’s stable in California. At Del Mar in August, Omaha Beach was a candidate for the Shared Belief Stakes on Aug. 25, but was taken out of consideration because of illness.

In early September, Mandella considered sending Omaha Beach to Churchill Downs for the Grade 3 Ack Ack Stakes at a mile on Sept. 28 before opting for the Santa Anita Sprint Championship.

Omaha Beach is scheduled to go to stud in Kentucky in 2020. With that looming, Omaha Beach may race through January. Mandella said on Sunday that a post-Breeders’ Cup plan could be a start in the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes at seven furlongs for 3-year-olds on Dec. 26.

Omaha Beach won on an otherwise difficult Saturday for Mandella. During morning training, the 5-year-old gelding Ky. Colonel collapsed and died while being exercised on the training track. Mandella said a cardiac event is the likely cause.

“That’s what we suspect,” he said.