Smith’s stakes are well done
Omaha Beach is the ultimate case of what-could-have-been and Saturday he showed why. The Kentucky Derby favorite in May, before having to scratch with a throat issue, ran a flawless race to win the Grade 1 $300,000 Malibu Stakes.
His win by 23⁄4 lengths highlighted a Santa Anita opening day card of seven stakes races. It was jockey Mike Smith’s fourth stakes win on the day and he passed Jerry Bailey with his 217th Grade 1 stakes win.
“It’s something you think about but it’s not something you can really visualize,” Smith said about if Omaha Beach had run in the Derby. “He would have been a hard horse to beat, especially with the weather situation. He loves the mud. He runs in it every bit as good as he does on a fast track.”
It was a field of five but Smith hand rode the 3-yearold the whole seven furlongs.
Omaha Beach paid $2.80, $2.10 and $2.10. Roadster was second, followed by Manny Wah, Complexity and Much Better.
Omaha Beach’s final stop in a short career will be Jan. 25 in the Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park in Florida. He will be retired to stud after that race.
“He’s like a son,” trainer Richard Mandella said. “He’s better than a son. He makes me money. He doesn’t cost money.”
While Omaha Beach was the best horse Saturday, Smith’s win aboard Hard Not To Love was the most memorable. The 3-year-old filly won the Grade 1 $300,000 La Brea Stakes coming from last in the seven-furlong race to win by 21⁄4 lengths. Hard Not To Love has only one eye, losing her left eye from an infection as a yearling.
“She was really a handful going to the gate,” trainer John Shirreffs said. “Mike has really made a difference with her. When he made the decision to ride her, he put his reputation as a horseman on the line. I think that made this even more special.”
Hard Not To Love paid $25.20, $6.60 and $4.20 in the race restricted to 3-year-old fillies.
Smith’s most difficult win was in the Grade 3 $100,000 Robert J. Frankel Stakes for fillies and mares going 11⁄8 miles on the turf. He guided Mirth from sixth on the far turn to take a head lead going into the stretch. The winning margin shrunk to a nose and at one point in the stretch Mirth had given up the lead.
“It may have been Mike Smith’s plan [to stay back], but I thought we would be sitting second,” trainer Phil D’Amato said. “But Mike Smith is a Hall of Famer, so he figured it out.”
Mirth paid $4.80, $3.00 and $2.20. Tiny Tina was second and Excellent Sunset was third.
Smith’s other win was in the ungraded $75,000 Lady Of Shamrock Stakes for 3year-old fillies going a mile on the turf. He rode Brill, a $1-million purchase who had won only one of seven lifetime starts going into race. Smith was a replacement rider for Flavien Prat, who scratched off all his horses with flu. Brill paid $9.00 to win. Other stakes winners were Gift Box as a repeat winner of the Grade 2 $200,000 San Antonio Stakes going 11⁄16 miles. Trainer John Sadler and co-owner Kosta Hronis plan to run the horse as a 7-year-old next year. Joel Rosario was the winning jockey.
Lady Prancealot won the Grade 1 $300,000 American Oaks for 3-year-old fillies going 11⁄4 miles on the turf. She paid $5.20 to win for trainer Richard Baltas and jockey Joe Bravo. The final stakes race of the day was the Grade 2 $200,000 Mathis Brothers Mile for 3-yearolds on the turf. It was won by Mo Forza by 11⁄4 lengths for Peter Miller and Rosario. He paid $4.40 to win.