Omaha Beach

Background

Omaha Beach is a dark bay stallion that was bred in Kentucky by Charming Syndicate. The syndicate owns the mare Charming, a daughter of Seeking the Gold out of Kentucky Broodmare of the Year Take Charge Lady. Charming, a half sister to Take Charge Indy and champion Will Take Charge, had previously produced champion filly Take Charge Brandi. In 2016, she foaled Omaha Beach, whose sire is War Front. War Front was a stakes winner on the dirt in America but established his reputation as a major sire with turf runners in Europe including Declaration of War, Roly Poly and U S Navy Flag.

In 2017, Omaha Beach attracted a bid of $625,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale but did not meet his reserve as "he didn't vet", a reference to problems revealed by X-ray imaging. On a recommendation from trainer Larry Jones, Rick Porter had Dr. Larry Bramlage review the images. Bramlage concluded that the issue would heal up so Porter privately purchased the colt for an undisclosed price for his Fox Hill Stables. Omaha Beach is trained by Hall of Famer Richard Mandella.

Racing career

2018: two-year-old season

Omaha Beach was winless in three starts at age two, all of them run over the turf. He finished third in his first start on September 2, 2018, then second in his next start on September 29, losing the latter by a nose. In his last start on November 18, he finished second by a neck.

2019: three-year-old season

For his first start as a three-year-old, Mandella opted to switch the colt from turf to dirt in a maiden race at Santa Anita on January 4, 2019. Omaha Beach stumbled at the start then recovered and moved to challenge for the lead. He moved into first place around the far turn but after a lengthy stretch duel again finished second, this time losing by half a length.

His next start was on February 2 over a sloppy dirt track at Santa Anita. He pressed the early pace while racing three wide, then took command around the turn. He continued to draw away down the stretch, eventually winning by nine lengths. "We always thought he was a really good horse," said Mandella later. "Being a War Front, I thought maybe he was going to want turf. But I was wrong with that. He wants dirt."

Omaha Beach entered into contention on the 2019 Road to the Kentucky Derby when he won the second division of the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park on March 16. The decision to ship to the Arkansas racetrack was in part due to the temporary closure of Santa Anita due to unsafe track conditions caused by heavy winter rains. He was the second choice in a field of ten that included champion two-year-old Game Winner (Breeders' Cup Juvenile). Ridden for the first time by Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, he pressed the early pace then moved to the lead down the backstretch. Leading by two lengths in mid-stretch, he then held off the rapidly closing Game Winner to win by a nose despite being bumped.

"Game Winner ran really good," said Mandella. "He'll probably be tough next time, but [Omaha Beach] just broke his maiden. He might be tougher, too."

On April 13, Omaha Beach followed up by winning the Arkansas Derby, also at Oaklawn Park, moving him to second place in the Derby qualification standings. On a sloppy track, he went off as the slight favorite over the highly regarded colt Improbable (Los Alamitos Futurity). Breaking from an inside post position, Omaha Beach was outrun for the early lead, so dropped back and moved to the outside around the first turn. Down the backstretch, he moved to the lead and then held off Improbable to win by a length.

"My first thought was, 'Jeez, don't move too quick' and then I thought, 'Don't be second-guessing Mike Smith,' Mandella said. He then added, "We'd already ran in the slop at home, so that wasn't much of a concern. He's a very tractable horse. I don't think we need to pick a surface."

Statistics

Notes:

An (*) asterisk after the odds means Omaha Beach was the post-time favorite for the race.

Stud career

On April 30, 2019, Spendthrift Farm announced Omaha Beach would stand the 2020 breeding season after retirement.

In late 2020 Omaha Beach shuttled to Australia and stood at Spendthrift Australia for a price of AU$22,000. His fee in the United States for 2020 was $40,000.

In 2025 his stud fee was set to $35,000.

Notable progeny

c = colt, f = filly, g = gelding

Pedigree

Omaha Beach is inbred 3 × 4 to Rubiano, meaning Rubiano appears in the third generation of the sire's side of the pedigree and in the fourth generation of the dam's side.