Speed Reads
Omaha Beach, the morning-line favorite to win Saturday's Kentucky Derby with 4-1 odds, will not be in the race.
Trainer Richard Mandella announced that Omaha Beach has an entrapped epiglottis, which was discovered after the horse coughed several times Wednesday morning. "We can't fix it this week, so we'll have to have a procedure done in a few days and probably be out of training for three weeks," he said. "We'll have to figure out a whole new game plan." This is not a life-threatening condition, but can affect a horse's performance.
Omaha Beach recently won three straight races, including the Arkansas Derby on April 13. Now, Game Winner, the Santa Anita Derby runner-up, is the 9-2 favorite.