LAUREL PARK, Md. — Having grown up around horse racing most of his life, Michael Gorham has been to and raced horses at Churchill Downs, the home of the Kentucky Derby.
But he’s never trained a horse to run for the roses. That might change this year.
Gorham is the trainer for Omaha Omaha, a Virginia-bred colt training for this year’s Virginia Derby. In six career races, Omaha Omaha — named after Peyton Manning’s famous audible call — has two wins, one second, and two third-place finishes.
“He’s training well,” Gorham said. “He’s not the best workhorse when he’s running by himself, but he likes competition. The further he works, the better he goes.”
This year, for the first time, the Virginia Derby will be a qualifying race for the Kentucky Derby. Horses can earn points toward inclusion in the Kentucky field by how they finish here at Colonial Downs and other races held across the country.
“It’s really designed well,” Gorham said of Colonial Downs. “It’s pretty cool to come to the Mid-Atlantic. It’s a big deal.”
Fifty Kentucky Derby points go to the winner of this year’s Virginia Derby, which is usually enough to get a horse into Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May. To this point, Omaha Omaha has earned 11 points in previous qualifying races.
“He’s a closing type of horse,” Gorham said. “He likes to lag back in a race and then finish strong. You always want a horse to run fast at the end.”
Omaha Omaha’s lineage includes 1985 Kentucky Derby winner Spend A Buck. Having a champion in your ancestry is always a positive in horse racing.
“Pedigree really does help,” Gorham explained. “If the mother and father raced well. Some families just have good horses, kind of like Peyton Manning and his brother!”
In one of his victories last November, Omaha Omaha was dead last halfway through but passed every other horse in the field to eventually win by five lengths. If he can do that again here in New Kent, he and Gorham will be making the trip to Louisville later this spring.
“You can think about it a little bit” Gorham admitted. “In this game, you have to plan ahead anyway. It’s a cool story that he’s a Virginia-bred horse. Secretariat was a Virginia horse, so it’s not out of the question to get to Kentucky.”
This year’s Virginia Derby will be part of a 10-race card on Saturday, March 15 at Colonial Downs. Gates open at 10:30 that morning and the first post time is at noon. General admission tickets are $5 and must be purchased before arrival.
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