In 1936, Omaha Raced in England
Triple Crown Champion's Daughter Foaled Top Stallion, Nijinsky
Triple Crown Spotlight Series: Omaha
TC Champions: Rankings
Omaha was a special-bred. His sire was Gallant Fox, 1930 Triple Crown champion. Omaha didn't show early promise. He won only once in nine starts as a juvenile, with four seconds and four unplaced efforts.
He became the next Triple Crown champion, after his daddy, scoring in all three jewels in 1935.
An Extra Race Scheduled
Between the second and third classics, Omaha ran against the always respected Rosemont in the Withers Stakes. Rosemont was one of few horses to beat Seabiscuit in the Charles Howard colt's prime years. Omaha met up with Rosemont again in 1935's muddy Belmont. It was common in the era for Triple Crown contenders to race in an additional contest held amongst the TC hoopla.
Today's training techniques are going farther and farther away from that format, calling for freshening of contenders for as many as eight weeks before the Kentucky Derby. Not all beginning contenders opt to continue in the next two classics, as the fields thin after the Derby.
Omaha followed in his sire's hoofsteps, gaining credits as he went along in his three-year-old season. He won twice more after his Triple Crown championship, beginning to concede weight by as much as 13 pounds.
Before he could run in the year's Travers Stakes, he experienced lameness that couldn't be resolved. His season ended.
British Fans Applaud Omaha
At four, Omaha was sent to England to race. Omaha's grandsire was Sir Gallahad III, from France. The Triple Crown champ's pedigree wouldn't allow him to stand at stud in England, but he could race there. British racing fans embraced Omaha into their version of thoroughbred competition, which included much longer distances that Omaha seemed to relish.
The TC champ won the mile and a half Victor Wild Stakes, the two mile Queen's Plate, and ran a game nose second in the Ascot Gold Cup, a two and a half mile marathon, to the mare, Quashed.
Omaha's racing efforts in England were much applauded by that country's fans. Their enthusiasm matched that of his American backers.
At stud for Claiborne Farm, Omaha was undistinguished. He was removed to a stud farm in New York in 1943. After seven service years there, his final stop became a farm in Nebraska. When he died in 1959, Omaha was buried at the AKsarben race track in Omaha.
Daughters Produce Champion, Nijinsky
Although he could not claim plaudits for his years at stud, Omaha did influence thoroughbred bloodlines in one astounding success. A daughter, Flaming Top, foaled a daughter named Flaring Top, who foaled Flaring Page. She in turn produced a son named Nijinsky, who became one of the most influential stallions of the thoroughbred world.
