Mike Smith breezes Omaha Beach at Del Mar on Aug. 4
Omaha Beach, who had been scheduled to return to the races in the Grade III, one-turn mile Ack Ack Stakes at Churchill Downs on Sept. 28, now is being pointed to the Grade I Santa Anita Sprint Championship after a training snafu last Friday.
“Simply put, the work got messed up and I’m not taking him to Kentucky off a long layoff, so I scrapped that idea, period, and I’m going to run him in the Sprint. I didn’t want to ship him unless everything was perfect,” trainer Richard Mandella said early Monday morning.
The Sprint is a Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” event at six furlongs on Oct. 5.
Omaha Beach was the pre-race favorite for the Kentucky Derby last May 4 but an entrapped epiglottis during the week leading into the classic forced the son of War Front to be scratched and he hasn’t raced since.
Omaha Beach’s work was aborted after a furlong when a horse in front of him lost its rider forcing Omaha Beach to pull up. He galloped around the track, then broke off again at the six furlong pole, working a furlong past the finish in 1:27.20 in company with Charlito.
“I think he’ll be perfect in time for the Sprint,” Mandella continued. “He’ll have a nice work before the race in a few days.”
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