With the way Rick Zeron and Lady Rainbow's luck worked out in their Peaceful Way Stakes elimination last weekend, the stars may actually be aligning for a huge score in the $466,000 final this Saturday night at Mohawk
Racetrack.
In an interview with the Woodbine Entertainment Group, Zeron explained how an unexpected break in stride and an unexpected break in terms of luck has his two-year-old trotting filly in a great spot to get all the marbles in the marquee stakes event.
"I was in behind the gate (in the elim) and I looked over and saw Brett Miller's horse (Celebrity Katie) grab a boot or hit a knee, I don't know what it was, but she made a really bad misstep," Zeron explained. "I thought I could get around them leaving. As I was three quarters of the way by, he got his filly back onto gear when I was trying to squeeze into the hole on the first turn.
"Obviously, it didn't work out because he filled the hole up and I had to grab a hold of her (Lady Rainbow). She did make an uncharacteristic break because she never makes a break."
Take a second and scrutinize the variables. There is a lightly-raced two-year-old trotting filly that makes an early break against a field of some of North America's best. The filly spots the leader almost 20 lengths at the opening quarter. How many times out of a hundred does the outcome end up working in favour of the filly in question?
"(The break) shoved me back to eighth by 14 or 17 lengths," Zeron continued. "I caught the field, and coming down the lane I thought to myself, 'I'm going to have to draw now,' because you (are part of a) draw to get in (if you finish fourth) -- the top three get in (automatically). (At that point) I looked over and saw Brett Miller (who was in third place) take the lines into one hand and hit his filly with the whip."
Ontario Racing Commission rules state that drivers must have a line in each hand throughout the entire course of every race. Thus, Miller's filly, Celebrity Katie, got placed back and Lady Rainbow was moved up to third for Zeron. "I got into the final and I drew the rail," said Zeron. "It kind of worked out."
Are the stars aligned? Only time will tell, but things are definitely shaping up for quite a story if all the pieces fall into place for Zeron and his charge on Saturday. "The way everything is going with karma, she's drawn the rail and hopefully I can win with her."
Looking down the calendar just slightly, the veteran horseman explained that "if everything goes well, we are going to be off to the Breeders Crown."
But Zeron isn't putting the cart ahead of the horse in terms of stakes engagements. The Peaceful Way is now and the 'Crown' is later. His aim now is to topple some impressive fillies which proved their worth in last weekend's elims.
"The horses that won their (elims), they stand out. They earned their spots and they look really good with the positions they asked for."
To view the entries for Saturday's card of racing at Mohawk, click here.