LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The last big hurdle was cleared Saturday morning at Churchill Downs for trainer Richard Mandella and Omaha Beach. A five-furlong work in 59 seconds flat for a horse that has won his last three starts and may still be improving.
"Since the Rebel Stakes, he continues to grow and fill out," said Mandella. "I never saw a three-year-old this good at this time of year in my barn."
The 68-year-old Mandella has been in the Hall of Fame since 2001 and won most every big race out there with the exception of the triple crown races. He is 0-for-6 in the Kentucky Derby with a best finish of 5th. And it's been 15 years since his last Derby starter.
"You grow up dreaming to do this," said Mandella. "I never made it something that had to happen. I take it one horse at a time, do what's best for the horse and just happen to have one that's taken me here."
Omaha Beach is the likely favorite in the run for the roses after beating two of the three highly regarded Derby contenders in Bob Baffert's barn. He beat Game Winner in the Rebel Stakes and held off Improbable in the Arkansas Derby. Mandella joked that Baffert, his friend and barn neighbor in California has stopped passing along Derby tips.
"He's been tutoring me about Derby's for a couple of years," said the dry-witted California native. "And after I won the Rebel, he started throwing me curve balls so I quit him and switched to D. Wayne Lukas."
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