Joe Holloway knows Rainbow Room will have to make up for lost time, but the trainer believes his pacing mare is ready for the challenge.
Following a 15-month absence from competition because of an injury, Rainbow Room, a multiple stakes winner, is set to return on Wednesday (March 6). She is scheduled to face eight rivals in a conditioned race at Dover Downs. Rainbow Room drew Post 7 and is the 2-1 morning line favourite along with driver Corey Callahan.
The four-year-old won seven of 12 races at age two, never finished worse than third, and earned $467,880 for owners Crawford Farms Racing, Val D’Or Farms, and Ted Gewertz. She qualified once in preparation for her three-year-old campaign, but suffered a broken coffin bone and was sidelined for the season.
“She looks good, she’s sound,” Holloway said. “But it’s already a tough transition from (age) three to four and she didn’t even get a three-year-old season. She’s basically going from two to four and I know I’m going to have to deal with little bumps in the road in the beginning.
“Usually at two you just overpower horses. At three you have to be a little more versatile, but not as much as by the time you race the aged ones. Then you have to be versatile, you have to be able to handle stuff, so she’s got a pretty steep learning curve in front of her. But I think she’s going to be fine. I expect by the end we’re going to be just where we want to be.”
Rainbow Room is a daughter of two Horse of the Year Award winners, sire Somebeachsomewhere and dam Rainbow Blue. She was purchased for $100,000 at the 2016 Lexington Selected Sale and is a full sister to 2012 Dan Patch Award-winner Somwherovrarainbow.
As a two-year-old, Rainbow Room won three preliminary divisions of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes and the series championship. She also won the Kentuckiana Stallion Management Stakes and her elimination of the Breeders Crown. She finished third in the Breeders Crown final.
She prepped for Wednesday’s start by qualifying twice at the Meadowlands Racetrack. She finished sixth in the first, timed in 1:53.3, and was third in the most recent on February 15, timed in 1:53.2 with a :26 final quarter.
“I was happy with the second qualifier, happier than with the first,” Holloway said. “Although with the first she went (1:) 53 and a piece and that’s what I expected she could do. It’s tough. It’s a year from when she qualified (in 2018), but she only qualified once, so she is a year and a half away from competitive racing.
“Hopefully I can race her in a couple of overnights before I race in the open. And then I can get a couple opens before I race top open company. But I expect her to have a great season. The main thing to be happy about is she’s sound. Now we’ll see what happens.”
Rainbow Room, pictured victorious in her Breeders Crown elimination in 2017
Racing will begin at 4:30 p.m. (EST) Wednesday at Dover Downs. Rainbow Room is in the 11th race, which carries an approximate 7:50 p.m. post time.
(USTA)