Steal Sunshine will finally have the opportunity to get back on the grass for the first time since his career debut 3 1/2 years earlier when taking on six rivals going 1 1/16 miles on the turf in Sunday’s $58,000 main event. The race that is the penultimate leg of a Rainbow 6 that features a mandatory payout of the entire pool.
A Grade 2 winner who finished fourth behind recent Met Mile winner Raging Torrent in the Godolphin Mile at Meydan in his latest start, Steal Sunshine is undeniably the class of the field. But even his trainer, Bobby Dibona, cautions that anyone thinking of singling Steal Sunshine in the Rainbow 6 should to do so at their own peril.
“He has a couple of sisters who have won races on the grass and he is coming in off a great gate work last week, maybe one of the best of his career,” said Dibona. “And his record speaks for itself. But there are a lot of legitimate turf horses in this field and he is still a question mark when it comes to the grass. And we are using this race as a prep for putting him back on the dirt in stakes later in the summer. That being said, we are in there trying, and I certainly think he can win. It certainly will be interesting to see how he handles it. But if I were betting, I wouldn’t play him at a short price under the circumstances.”
Five of Steal Sunshine’s rivals are multiple winners on turf, including California Frolic, who exits a late-running third-place finish in the Mr. Steele Stakes over the course four weeks earlier.
Eyes on the King has been freshened since finishing third – beaten one length by Ninja King, who is also a member of this lineup – in December in an allowance race at Tampa Bay Downs in December. He has been idle ever since but returns as a first-time gelding and is the speed of this field. He is perhaps a must-use in the Rainbow as a potential gate-to-wire winner if able to relax long enough on the lead.
Beach Gold also figures to take plenty of play coming off his finest hour, a 2 3/4-length victory against lower-level allowance competition, for which he earned a lifetime-best 92 Beyer Speed Figure.
There should be a little over $100,000 in the carryover pool for the mandatory Rainbow 6 if not hit on Friday or Saturday’s card, which is likely to attract somewhere in the vicinity of $1.5 million in new money, according to the track. The sequence includes a second allowance race in leg 3, a five-furlong turf dash that may include a much safer single than Steal Sunshine. In race 6 Sunday, Hot Cargo seeks her third consecutive victory.
Hot Cargo has captured each of her two starts after she was claimed for $25,000 by leading trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. and returned to the turf following a couple of disappointing performances over synthetic surfaces at Gulfstream Park and Woodbine. She may receive her stiffest challenges as the likely odds-on favorite from the in-form pair of Happy Ride and Alas Doradas, both of whom also figure to race forwardly placed.
There is little to no pedigree power for the turf in the opening leg of the Rainbow 6, a maiden special weight dash on the grass, with Brisa Veloz the only member of the field with a sibling in the family tree who has won over the surface. The most intriguing member of the field from a breeding standpoint, and one who may offer some value to kick-start Rainbow 6 tickets, is Welcome to America. The 3-year-old filly is by the two time Group 1-placed Night of Thunder out of Muteela, who was multiple Group 3-placed herself on the grass in her native England.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.