Kentucky Derby trail: Omaha Beach takes Rebel Stakes No. 2

Headed late by unbeaten Game Winner in the Oaklawn Park stretch, Omaha Beach dug in just enough for a victory in the second division of Saturday's Grade 2, $750,000 Rebel Stakes.

With the Top 2 more than eight lengths ahead of third, it's only appropriate a photo finish determined by a nostril or so should lock both into the 2019 Kentucky Derby with qualifying points paid out on a 37.5-15-7.5-3.75 basis to the first four finishers.

Under jockey Mike Smith, Omaha Beach finished 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.42 after a clean trip that saw the son of War Front press the pace, take the lead into the turn and just hold off a rallying and reigning champ.

"Where we were standing, it's kind of a bad angle, and I thought he got nosed out," said Richard Mandella, who trains the 4-1 shot for Rick Porter's Fox Hill Farms. "It's nice to get down and find out what happened."

So continued an afternoon of bad beats for trainer Bob Baffert -- when  will that guy finally catch a break?! -- after another previously unbeaten colt in Improbable came up a nose short of winning the Rebel's first flight.

Away as a 1-2 favorite, Game Winner broke a step slower than the fleet-footed front-runners. He ran between horses into the first turn but found a clear way up the back stretch, heading three-wide into the turn as Omaha Beach took the lead.

Jockey Joel Rosario dug in throughout the final furlong, but Game Winner came up just short in his first start since the Nov. 3 Breeders' Cup Juvenile. He entered 4-for-4 with three of those Grade 1 victories.

Omaha Beach, meanwhile, took five starts to break his maiden, finally doing so by nine lengths on Feb. 2 at Santa Anita Park.

“Coming out of a maiden race, it's a big step up," Mandella said. "Game Winner ran really good. He hadn't run in a long time. He'll probably be tough next time, but mine just broke his maiden. He might be tougher, too. We always thought he was a really good horse.

"Being a War Front, I thought maybe he was going to want turf. But I was wrong with that. He wants dirt."

Notably, War of Will, the multiple graded stakes winner favored in next weekend's Louisiana Derby (G2), is another by War Front who started on turf and has experienced career-defining success on the main track.

As for what's next with Omaha Beach, the California-based Mandella said, "We'll just see how things go. We'll get him back home and take a look next week."

Market King ran a distant third with Gunmetal Gray fourth.