Omaha Beach, Mitole Post Final Breeders' Cup Works

With the Nov. 1-2 Breeders' Cup World Championships merely days away at Santa Anita Park, short-distance workouts were the standard for six horses that breezed at the Arcadia, Calif., track Oct. 29, led by Omaha Beach  and Mitole.

Fox Hill Farm's Omaha Beach, the 8-5 morning-line favorite for the Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) Nov. 2, delivered a three-furlong breeze in :36 1/5. William and Corinne Heiligbrodt's Mitole—the 9-5 choice for the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1)—was similarly sharp in covering three furlongs in :37 2/5. Of the two, Omaha Beach was given a bit more of a free rein by his rider, and he shot past a couple horses that were galloping ahead of him.

Omaha Beach's trainer Richard Mandella playfully danced a few steps after watching the workout from his War Front  colt, who won the Santa Anita Sprint Championship (G1), the Arkansas Derby (G1), and a division of the Rebel Stakes (G2) earlier this year.  

"Maintenance is the word," Mandella said. "If we ain't ready now we ain't gonna be. I was going to work 'Omaha' tomorrow, but I thought, jeez, if he got excited and did too much, I think I'll regret it."

Also breezing Tuesday for Mandella, covering a half-mile in :48, was United. A longshot for the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T), United rallied to be third in the 1 1/4-mile John Henry Turf Championship (G2T) at Santa Anita in his final Breeders' Cup prep. Flavien Prat, his rider over his last three starts, was aboard for the breeze.

"He is like a big hound dog," Mandella said. "He lumbers over that ground. I think the mile and a half is really going to make a different level for him. I think we can improve upon the other day. Saying that, I know we have to, but I think there is a shot." 

The Steve Asmussen-trained Mitole shined, as usual, in his breeze Tuesday under exercise rider Angel Garcia, who kept him hard held. Garcia gave him a simple cue to switch leads at the top of the stretch, and left him in a steady rhythm.

"We just wanted a nice smooth work away from the pole," assistant trainer Scott Blasi said. "Just wanted him feeling good, coming home like he was. He is a really happy horse right now."

Mitole is a three-time grade 1 winner in 2019, having won the Churchill Downs Stakes presented by Twinspires.com (G1), the Runhappy Metropolitan Handicap (G1), and the Aug. 24 Forego Stakes Presented by Encore Boston Harbor (G1) in his last start at Saratoga Race Course. He is 5-for-6 on the year under his regular rider Ricardo Santana Jr., his only loss being a third in the Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G1) at Saratoga behind Imperial Hint, a foe he again faces in the Sprint.

The 4-year-old son of Eskendereya has been breezing at Santa Anita since early this month, recording five local works, highlighted by a bullet gate breeze in :58 4/5 Oct. 22.

"The time between races has really benefited him," Blasi said of the two months off since the Forego. "I think that gate work Steve wanted more of a solid work. This week was just maintenance. You just want their bodies feeling good and their minds and wanting more. He's definitely at that point."

Others that worked Tuesday included Dirt Mile entrant Blue Chipper, who zipped three furlongs in :34 4/5 under Prat; TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) longshot Full Flat, a Japanese invader that went an easy half in :53 2/5 seconds; and fellow Juvenile runner Wrecking Crew, who traveled three furlongs in :38 4/5.

"I thought he went really good. I liked the way he is moving," Prat told TVG of Blue Chipper, a winner of seven of eight races in Korea.

Foreign Horses Clear Quarantine

It was a busy day at the quarantine barn as 21 horses in the main body of Breeders' Cup races from overseas left the containment area and ventured to the racetrack for the first time.

That group included A'Ali, Dream Shot, Band Practice, Dr Simpson, and Alligator Alley in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2T); Albigna, Living In The Past, Shadn, Daahyeh, and Unforgetable in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T); Ambassadorial in the Dirt Mile; Villa Marina, Billesdon Brook, Fanny Logan, and Iridessa in the Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1T); Hey Gaman, Space Traveller, Lord Glitters, and Suedois in the TVG Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T); and Alounak and Old Persian in the Turf.

Trainer Aidan O'Brien's fleet of runners arrived at Santa Anita Monday night and are expected to make their first trip to the track Oct. 31.



Maxfield, Landeskog Out of Respective Races

Maxfield—among the top contenders for the Nov. 1 TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) at Santa Anita Park—will not run in the race, trainer Brendan Walsh said Tuesday.

As first reported by David Grening of Daily Racing Form, an issue with Maxfield's right front will keep Godolphin's homebred son of Street Sense  out of the Juvenile, the anchor race on "Future Stars Friday" at the Breeders' Cup.

"We're not sure what it is yet, we're hoping it's just a foot (abscess)," Walsh said. "This morning when we washed the poultice off and gave him a jog up as we do, he wasn't quite right. You can see that something's bothering him."

Maxfield gave Walsh the first grade 1 win of his career when he took the Oct. 5 Claiborne Breeders' Futurity (G1) at Keeneland, his second score in as many starts after breaking his maiden at first asking Sept. 14 at Churchill Downs.

"He's too nice of a horse to be messing around with," the trainer said. "We'll do the right thing and look forward to next year. That's always been the thing with him is his 3-year-old year. I thought he might take a couple runs to break his maiden, and he won a grade 1 already. He's a big, scopey horse. He'll be a hell of a horse next year, so it's a no-brainer, really."

Maxfield is slated to fly back to Kentucky, where Walsh is based, the morning of Nov. 2. He will undergo additional veterinary evaluation before he leaves California, Walsh said.

Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) entrant Landeskog is also going to be scratched from his race, trainer Doug O'Neill said. Second in the Gallant Bob Stakes (G2) in his last start Sept. 21 at Parx Racing, he exited an Oct. 26 workout not to his trainer's liking.

"He's just telling us he's not 100%. So we're going to wait for another day," O'Neill explained.

O'Neill said scans and x-rays have not yielded a specific problem, but that the horse is body sore.

News of Landeskog being out of the Sprint was first reported by Jay Privman of Daily Racing Form.