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Omaha
Omaha was the big horse for Belair Stud in 1935 in more ways than one. The huge chestnut (commonly reported as standing seventeen hands) was so big that most ordinary racetrack stalls could not accommodate his bulk; to give him enough space to be comfortable, a double stall had to be created by taking out the partition between two stalls. A horse so large would not ordinarily be expected to be precocious, and Omaha did not exceed expectations at two. Although he broke his maiden in :58-3/5 for five furlongs, suggesting that he was not quite a pure plodder, he did not win any other races at two for Hall of Fame trainer “Sunny Jim” Fitzsimmons; in fact, his maiden win was his only lifetime victory at distances of a mile or less. Nonetheless, Omaha ran second in the Sanford Stakes, the Junior Champion Stakes, and the Champagne Stakes, giving his connections hopes for the following season. Even aside from his size, it was quite reasonable for owner-breeder William Woodward, Sr., to believe that Omaha would be a better horse at three than two. His sire, Gallant Fox, was the 1930 Triple Crown winner, while his dam, Flambino, won the 1927 Gazelle Stakes and ran third in both the Belmont Stakes and the Coaching Club American Oaks that year. Omaha’s granddam, *Flambette, won the 1921 Coaching Club American Oaks; she, in turn, was a granddaughter of Medeah, an excellent French racer who won the 1908 Prix de Diane (French Oaks) and Prix Royal-Oak (French St. Leger). There was, thus, a strong heritage of high-class staying horses in Omaha’s pedigree. At three, Omaha lived up to that heritage. After winning an overnight event at a mile and 70 yards and finishing third in the Wood Memorial, the big colt scored his first stakes win in the Kentucky Derby, defeating Roman Solider by a length and a half. He next won the Preakness by six lengths from Firethorn. A half-length loss to Rosemont in the Withers Stakes two weeks later took some luster from his name, but the big colt rebounded to win the Belmont by a length and a half, with Firethorn once again the runner-up. After his Triple Crown sweep, Omaha tackled his elders in the Brooklyn Handicap but was not quite up to the task, finishing third behind the great handicapper Discovery. As Discovery had set a world record for nine furlongs, Omaha was hardly disgraced. He returned to his own division with victories in the Dwyer Stakes and the Arlington Classic, the latter in track record time for ten furlongs, before being forced to the sidelines by injury the day before a scheduled start in the Travers Stakes. Although not generally considered the best American horse in training in 1935 – that honor went to Discovery, who won eleven of nineteen starts in 1935 while carrying up to 139 pounds successfully – Omaha was the year’s leading money winner and champion three-year-old male. Ever the sportsman, William Woodward decided to send Omaha to England for that country’s most prestigious race for all ages, the Ascot Gold Cup. The race's two and one-half mile distance seemed ideally suited to Omaha; the only question was how well the horse would handle the change from dirt to turf racing. After sailing across the Atlantic in January 1936, the big horse acclimated well and won both the Victor Wild Stakes over twelve furlongs and the Queen’s Plate over two miles while tuning up for the Cup. But he did not quite succeed in taking down his primary objective. In a tremendous stretch duel, Omaha was beaten a short head for the 1936 Ascot Gold Cup by the superb filly Quashed, whose previous victories included the 1935 Oaks Stakes. Ironically, both Omaha and Quashed were considered “half-breds” by the standards of the Jersey Act, which would not be rescinded for another thirteen years. (The Jersey Act, which took effect in 1913, required that a horse had to trace in all lines of its pedigree to animals already in the General Stud Book as of 1913 in order to qualify for registration. Omaha’s pedigree was “tainted” by the presence of his distant ancestor Lexington, a non-Thoroughbred by the standards of the Jersey Act, while Quashed belonged to a female line that did not trace to any of the families originally registered in the General Stud Book.) Despite his “half-bred” status, Omaha had gained an admiring following in England, though he tarnished his post-Cup reputation somewhat by running second in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Newmarket in his final career start. He returned to the United States having won nine races from twenty-two starts, with total earnings equivalent to $154,755, and remains the only Triple Crown winner to have raced abroad. His full brother, Flares, would later avenge his Ascot Gold Cup defeat by winning the great race in 1938. Unfortunately, Omaha proved a complete flop at stud in Kentucky, New York, and eventually Nebraska; by the end of his stud career, the only stud fee asked was a $25 charitable donation. Nonetheless, the old champion was a popular tourist attraction for racing fans from his namesake city. Following his death in 1959, he was buried at the now-defunct Ak-Sar-Ben racetrack near Omaha. Recent attempts to determine the exact location of his remains have been unsuccessful, but Omaha has a permanent memorial in the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame, which he entered in 1965. Another memorial is in through his daughter Flaring Top, who became the third dam of the great European champion and international sire Nijinsky II and the fourth dam of another champion and excellent sire in The Minstrel. Text © 2005 by Avalyn Hunter Artwork © 2006 by Pat DeLong. Used by permission and may not be copied or distributed without the express consent of Pat DeLong. For information regarding purchases, reproductions, or licensing, please contact Pat DeLong at patdelongart@aol.com. |
