Omaha Beach Works Bullet Three Furlongs at Santa Anita

Fox Hill Farms' multiple grade 1 winner Omaha Beach  turned in an impressive bullet three-furlong workout Dec. 22 at Santa Anita Park. The 3-year-old son of War Front  completed the distance in :34 flat, the fastest of 32 at the distance. 

Trained by Richard Mandella, Omaha Beach will likely make his next appearance in the Dec. 28 Runhappy Malibu Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita. The race had originally been scheduled for Dec. 26, but inclement weather in the forecast prompted the Southern California track to postpone opening day. 

"Mandella called me right after the work and said, 'I don't know what the clocker has got, but my son (Gary Mandella) and I both got :34 flat. He did it easy, he was wide, and he galloped out good,'" said Rick Porter of Fox Hill Farms. "He just couldn't have had a better workout. I looked through the works and he was two seconds better than anyone else. I don't think I've ever had a horse have a blowout work in :34. 

"It was a good time to work today now that the race will be on Saturday. The exercise rider said he never asked him for anything and never moved his hands. They weren't planning on going that fast, but there were a lot of horses working today because of the weather and with the track being closed tomorrow, and every time he saw a horse, he wanted to catch it." 

Omaha Beach last raced Nov. 2, when he took second to upset winner Spun to Run in the Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) at Santa Anita. Slated to join the 2020 stud roster at Spendthrift Farm, Omaha Beach will likely race twice more—in the Malibu and the Jan. 25 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) at Gulfstream Park—before retiring to his second career as a stallion. 

Lightly raced in 2019, Omaha Beach was sidelined most of the summer after undergoing surgery to repair an entrapped epiglottis. 

"He's feeling good," Porter said. "I hope everything goes well, and then we go to the Pegasus. That's the plan. We just have to stay healthy. I think he's definitely one of the most talented horses I've ever had. It's a shame that he lost half a year because of his epiglottis, but it is what it is. Hopefully we will have two more races before we turn him over to Spendthrift." 

Also working Sunday was Karl Watson, Michael Pegram, and Paul Weitman's McKinzie. The 4-year-old Street Sense  colt breezed four furlongs in :48 flat for trainer Bob Baffert. The time was the seventh-fastest of 107 at the distance.

It was the third four-furlong move of the month—and the fastest yet—for McKinzie since running second to Vino Rosso  in the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1). 

Exline-Border Racing, David Bernsen, Susanna Wilson, and Dan Hudock's Storm the Court made his own four-furlong move. The 2-year-old Court Vision  colt was clocked in :48 4/5 on the dirt. 

Trained by Peter Eurton, Storm the Court picked up the first top-level score of his career Nov. 1 when he took the TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) by a head.