Background
Foaled at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky, Omaha was a chestnut horse with a white blaze who stood 16.3 hands high. 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. Flambino also produced the Ascot Gold Cup winner Flares and was the sister of La France, the direct female ancestor of many notable thoroughbreds including Danzig Connection, Decidedly and Johnstown.
The horse was owned by and bred William Woodward, Sr.'s famous Belair Stud in Bowie, Maryland. He was trained by Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons who also trained Omaha's sire to the Triple Crown. As a yearling, Omaha was leggy and awkward-looking, but a favorite of Woodward, who reportedly considered sending the horse to England to be trained for the Epsom Derby. In the event, Omaha's move to England was postponed until 1936. Omaha was ridden to his biggest wins by the Canadian jockey Smokey Saunders.
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