Omaha Beach Expected to Begin Covering Mares Feb. 15

Spendthrift Farm's multiple grade 1 winner Omaha Beach  is expected to be ready for the breeding season Feb. 15, according to the farm's general manager Ned Toffey.

Besides dealing with a compressed transition schedule from racing to stud duty due to being entered in the Jan. 25 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1), the 4-year-old son of War Front  has been compromised by a right hind ankle injury that forced him to be scratched from the Pegasus.

Additional radiographs and examinations by three veterinarians since the stallion arrived at Spendthrift Jan. 27 have shown his ankle is healing well from the beginning of a cannon bone fracture, which had been observed when he was at Gulfstream Park. 

"He is OK for paddock turnout, and as long as he tolerates that with no setbacks, such as lameness or filling, then he is OK to breed mares," Toffey said. He added that another set of radiographs will be taken before Omaha Beach begins breeding mares to make sure there are no adverse changes in the ankle. 

"There have been no changes so far," Toffey said.

Omaha Beach's transition from racehorse to stallion actually has not been that different from what it would have been without an injury, according to Toffey. For any horse transitioning from racing to farm life, Spendthrift uses portable panels to create a restricted space in a paddock—basically an open-air stall with access to grass. Omaha Beach will be hand-walked and spend time in this pen getting accustomed to his surroundings. Panels will be added to the pen over time to gradually expand to the size of a round pen before the horse will be allowed free access in a paddock.

Omaha Beach becomes the fourth stallion to manage an accelerated transition to stud duty that was created when the Pegasus World Cup was introduced in 2017. Other stallions to make this transition include Taylor Made Stallions' former sire California Chrome , who was the pioneer in 2017 and proved it could be managed successfully. Three Chimneys Farm's Gun Runner  and Lane's End's City of Light  followed the same program in 2018 and 2019, respectively, with equally successful results. 

Spendthrift Farm opens its breeding shed Feb. 10. Omaha Beach, who is standing for $45,000, already has a full book for this year's breeding season, during which he is expected to cover just over 200 mares.

As far as Omaha Beach's other lesson to learn regarding being a stallion, Toffey said the horse has been doing everything right.

"So far so good," Toffey said.