Early Derby favorite Omaha Beach scratched from race

On Tuesday, Omaha Beach’s connections were on top of the racing world. They were the favorites to win the 145th Kentucky Derby. On Wednesday, a little more than 24 hours later, they were knocked off that mountaintop by the devastating news that their colt won’t run in the $3 million race because of a trapped epiglottis.

The development was a punch in the gut to trainer Richard Mandella and Omaha Beach’s owner, Rick Porter, who both were staring at possibly their first Kentucky Derby victory, which is the dream of most horsemen in the sport. Now they’ll have to sit back, watch others run and dream about what might have been.

According to allamericanhorseinsurance.com, “the epiglottis is a cartilage that covers the entrance to the larynx and serves to prevent food from entering the larynx and trachea while swallowing. Epiglottic entrapment occurs when the epiglottis becomes trapped in a fold of tissue on the floor of the pharynx.”

“It’s a huge punch in the gut, but it is what it is,” said Porter, who has battled cancer in recent years but is now in remission. “He had had a little bit of a sore throat, but we were treating it and everything was looking 100 percent better. There was no question.

“We scoped him one more time before we entered him on Tuesday. It looked almost completely perfect. The little bit of inflammation was gone. As the vet said, if I didn’t know it was there I wouldn’t have even seen it. Then all of a sudden the next day, he’s entrapped.”

Omaha Beach was riding a three-race winning streak and was installed as the 4-1 morning-line favorite for Saturday’s race after he drew the favorable No. 12 post position during Tuesday morning’s postposition draw at Churchill Downs.

Mike Smith chose the War Front colt as his Derby mount over Santa Anita Derby winner Roadster, and everything was looking perfect.

Mandella, who had hoped to win the Kentucky Derby in his first trip back in 15 years, is 0 for 6 with Derby starters. The Hall of Fame trainer said Omaha Beach will probably be on the shelf for about three weeks but should return this summer.

“We can fix it. It’s a fairly easy fix,” he said. “Three weeks off, but that throws us out of everything. But he’ll be back.”

Porter said he hopes Omaha Beach can return for either the Haskell Invitational on July 20 or the Travers Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 24.