Rainbow Blue to qualify

It was the luck of the draw, or really the bad luck of not knowing the draw, that is keeping reigning Horse of the Year Rainbow Blue on the sidelines this weekend. Trainer and co-owner George Teague Jr. told The Horseman Tuesday morning that he believed the Woodbine draw for Friday night's card was Tuesday, but he learned Monday afternoon that the draw had been held earlier that day. Thus, he wasn't able to enter Rainbow Blue into a $45,000(C) Open and take on the likes of Glowing Report, Carolina Sunshine, Burning Point and Always Cam.



"I thought they were drawing today," Teague said from his barn at Harrington Raceway. "I had Matt (Harrington Raceway publicity director Matt Sparacino) pull me up a condition sheet (Monday) at about 2:30 and he told me, ‘You're not going to like this. They drew at about 10:30.' I called up (the Woodbine race office) at about two just in case but they already had the race on by then."



Rainbow Blue missed a start last weekend after coming up slightly sick so the 4-year-old mare hasn't made an appearance since capturing an Open Pace at the Meadowlands May 6, an effort in which she needed to pace her fastest final quarter ever (:26 flat) to hold off Glowing Report.



Teague said he plans on qualifying Rainbow Blue at the Big M Friday morning, and that she appears completely healthy. Teague said he trained her on the Harrington Raceway seven-eighths mile training track Saturday, May 21, in 1:55 and that he planned on taking her on a light training trip later Tuesday.



"This is the only thing I can do since she needs a race," said Teague of Rainbow Blue, who has won all three of her starts in 2005. "I called Pocono Downs but they really didn't want her there.



"I'm glad at least this happened this week and not the next for the Classic," he continued, referring to the second round of the Classic Series scheduled for Woodbine June 4. "No harm, no foul; I'll just try to get a good mile in that qualifier."

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