Omaha (horse)
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Omaha (March 24, 1932 - April 24, 1959) was a United States thoroughbred horse racing champion.
Born at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky, he was the son of 1930 U.S. Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox and the mare, "Flambino." Omaha was the third horse to win the Triple Crown having won as a three year old in 1935.
Omaha was an unlikely champion. Like his father, as a two-year-old he was less than spectacular, winning just once in nine races. In four of the nine races, Omaha finished out of the money. During the winter, however, the horse filled out and began to look like a champion and he won the three Triple Crown races easily.
The horse was owned by William Woodward, Sr.'s famous Belair Stud in Bowie, Maryland and was trained by Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons who also trained Omaha's sire to the Triple Crown. He was ridden by Canadian jockey Willie Saunders.
In January of 1936, amidst great fanfare, Omaha was shipped to England aboard the RMS Aquitania and on May 30th won the Queens Plate at Kempton Park. On June 18, in front of a crowd estimated at 200,000, Omaha lost the 2 1-2-mile Ascot Gold Cup by a head to the filly, Quashed.
Retired to stand at stud at Claiborne Farm he failed to perform satisfactorily and was sent to a New York State stud farm in 1943 where he remained until 1950. He was then moved to a farm in Nebraska where he lived out the rest of his life. Omaha died in 1959 and was buried in the Circle of Champions at Ak-Sar-Ben racetrack in Omaha, Nebraska.
Omaha was not considered a great sire although four generations later, his blood ran through the veins of the great British champion Nijinsky II. Three Kentucky Derby champions are third great grandsons of Omaha.
In 1965, he was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. In The Blood-Horse ranking of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century, Omaha was ranked #61.