Shifman: Omaha Beach already deserves top NTRA rankings spot

Performance on the track is the most important criterion for my weekly NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll ballot. A horse is not going to get on my list or be highly ranked based on supposition.

McKinzie has not won a race this year, yet in the consensus Top 10, he is ranked No. 4. I expect that he will win races, but he is not moving up my list until he does just that. Monomoy Girl is in the fifth spot, but she has yet to make her 2019 debut. The same goes for her.

This past week, Omaha Beach and Midnight Bisou were the top performers, winning Oaklawn Park's signature Grade 1 races, and they both made deserving moves up my Top 10.

Midnight Bisou has had a fantastic 2019 campaign. Her victory in the Apple Blossom (G1) at Oaklawn Park on Sunday came after a thrilling stretch duel with the gutsy Escape Clause. The Steve Asmussen trainee completed a stakes three-bagger, she has now won Grade 1, 2, and 3 stakes race this year. Elate was expected to be a threat to Midnight Bisou’s dominance of the Older Female Division but she disappointed with a third-place finish.

Omaha Beach’s victory in the Arkansas Derby (G1) vaulted him to the top of the prestige 3-Year-old Male Division. If Mike Smith chooses to ride the son of War Front over Roadster, then he is likely to head to Kentucky Derby as the favorite. With the best performance of the year in Older Male Division coming from the retired City of Light, Omaha Beach’s performance this year becomes even more noteworthy.

In two races at Oaklawn Park, the Richard Mandella trainee did the unexpected when he first defeated Game Winner and then Improbable, the top two 3-year-olds in the polls since January. Taking down Bob Baffert’s popular duo gave Omaha Beach Grade 1 and 2 victories and earned my No. 1 vote.

Normally, I would not put a 3-year-old in the top spot in April, but the road to the Kentucky Derby is now complete, and at this point it was time to recognize that Omaha Beach has become the most high-profile Thoroughbred in racing. Last year, heading up to the Kentucky Derby, I had 3-year-olds ranked as highly as the No. 3 position in the Top Thoroughbred Poll.

Roadster moved into my Top 10 at No. 9 this week, as he seems to have regained the status as Baffert’s top runner in the crop. It is interesting to remember how last summer Baffert had touted him as the most promising young horse in his barn. As it played out, he was the only Baffert runner to win a Derby prep in the new year.