Omaha Beach Nears Return to Work Tab at Del Mar
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Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt
Richard Mandella with Omaha Beach at Churchill Downs
Richard Mandella is preparing for Fox Hill Farms' Omaha Beach, who has recovered from an entrapped epiglottis that required surgery following a late scratch from the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) as the morning line favorite, to return to more serious work in the coming weeks.
The Hall of Fame trainer provided an update on the Arkansas Derby (G1) winner after leading him to the Del Mar track July 15 for a morning gallop.
"I don't have big plans with him other than the Breeders' Cup in the fall," Mandella said. "He's just galloping now, getting him legged up, and I may start breezing him in the next week or two. There's a chance I might run him in the 3-year-old stakes at the end of the meeting if it works out. We'll see how it goes."
That race would be the Shared Belief Stakes, formerly the El Cajon, for 3-year-olds going a mile on Del Mar's main track Aug. 25.
Omaha Beach spent time recovering at WinStar Farm in Versailles, Ky., before shipping back to Mandella's care at Santa Anita Park June 10.
"I'm particularly glad to be back at Del Mar this year. It seemed like there was a black cloud over Santa Anita and anything that could go wrong did go wrong," Mandella said of the Dec. 26-June 23 meet that saw 30 horses fatally injured during racing or training. "What a shame for a track as great as that. Hopefully we start here with fresher faces and a fresh outlook."
Mandella is also lining up other Del Mar runners. He has LNJ Foxwoods' Anonymity, second in the July 6 Great Lady M Stakes (G2) at Los Alamitos Race Course, as a possible for the Aug. 11 Rancho Bernardo Handicap (G3) for fillies and mares going 6 1/2 furlongs, or an outside chance at the July 28 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes (G1). The Clement L. Hirsch is 1 1/16 miles for fillies and mares and is a "Win and You're In" race for the Nov. 2 Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) at Santa Anita.
United, also owned by LNJ Foxwoods, last finished second May 25 in the Charles Whittingham Stakes (G2T) at Santa Anita. He is entered in the second race July 17, a 1 1/8-mile allowance optional claiming race opening day that could serve as a possible stepping stone to the Aug. 17 Del Mar Handicap (G2T). The 1 3/8-mile turf feature is a "Win and You're In" race for the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T).