Kentucky Derby 2019 Daily: A witty mind behind Omaha Beach

Welcome to Horse Racing Nation’s Kentucky Derby Daily, which will each day leading up to the May 4 race at Churchill Downs detail all the news and notes related to contenders in one convenient space.

Tuesday afternoon, Richard Mandella’s hands were full but his mind sharp.

The trainer of likely 2019 Kentucky Derby contender and Arkansas Derby (G1) favorite Omaha Beach led the colt upon arrival through Oaklawn Park’s shed row, simultaneously fielding questions about his horse on a national media teleconference.

“I tried to get Larry Jones to walk him,” Mandella quipped, “but he only gave me five rounds and quit.”

The Hall of Famer didn’t stop there.

Omaha Beach made three starts on the grass to begin his career. Why?

“War Fronts had been so good on the turf,” Mandella said. “I just thought it might be a good way to start. Then he ran well, so I tried it again, and he ran well, so I tried it again. If you beat me in the head enough times, I finally get it.”

The colt has now won two straight — on dirt — breaking his maiden by nine lengths at Santa Anita before making an initial trip to Oaklawn, where he edged Game Winner out by a nose in the second division of the Rebel Stakes (G2).

“I was fully confident we were going to win that race,” Mandella said. And then some silence. “Just kidding. It scared me to death at the eighth pole when it looked like Game Winner was the dominant hose, and then my horse just looked at him, dug back in and beat him.

“I couldn’t have been more proud.”

Campaigned by Rick Porter’s Fox Hill Farms, Omaha Beach enters the Arkansas Derby after Saturday’s eye-catching five-furlong breeze in 1:00.60.

“Once he got serious about running, his works have always been like a first class horse,” Mandella said. “It’s not a surprise to us he’s that good. Probably the concern I have is some day somebody will say, how did I get him beat so many times?”

If all goes well at Oaklawn, Omaha Beach will mark Mandella’s first Derby starter since 2004, when he saddled Action This Day and Minister Eric.

“The 15 years is significant,” Mandella said. “That’s the time they gave me when they told me the last time I came, ‘Don’t come back for 15 years.’ So the time’s up, and I’m back.”

OK, and the big question. What about 10 furlongs?

“Well, they can all get a mile and a quarter. It’s just a matter of time,” Mandella said, this time with a laugh.

Then, inevitably for a West Coast-based trainer, the act had to end. The conversation shifted from talk of the Arkansas Derby to the goings on at Santa Anita Park.

Wit turned to wisdom.

“My horses are my family — same as most of the people that work for me,” Mandella said. “It’s our best friends. It’s our relatives. This is our life, and they mean the world to us. Saying that, there’s always going to be some bad apple in the bunch. Just in nature, you can’t help that. You do the best you can to weed them out.

“Racing maybe needs to do a better job of showing the good in it rather than wait for the criticism and try to defend ourselves.”

Derby links

• Master Fencer, Japan’s Derby hope, opened at a triple-digit price in Kentucky Derby odds out of Las Vegas. Worth a play?

• Somelikeithotbrown, a bubble horse, is officially no longer under Derby consideration after connections discovered an injury coming out of the Blue Grass (G2).

• There’s one final draw day to go Wednesday. Check out probables for the Arkansas Derby and Keeneland's Lexington Stakes (G3).

In case you missed it…

Monday’s Derby Daily report featured experts’ comments about Tacitus — and the suggestion that his Wood Memorial (G2) win may have been the most impressive prep performance of a busy weekend.