Rainbow Dancer Is a Winner, While Injury Retires Marlin

Lit De Justice was an Eclipse Award basket case long before he became an Eclipse Award-winning sprinter. Now retired, his place in trainer Jenine Sahadi’s barn has been taken nicely by Rainbow Dancer, another horse with a head of his own.

“You can keep buying those wackos,” C.N. Ray said to Sahadi recently. “It’s all right with me.”

Rainbow Dancer, thanks to some tender-loving care from Sahadi and a lot of patience from jockey Alex Solis, is headed for the Breeders’ Cup, the venue that notarized Lit De Justice as a champion a year ago. The 6-year-old French-bred, who races for Ray and his wife Carol, took a major step toward the Breeders’ Cup Turf on Sunday, winning the $300,000 Oak Tree Turf Championship in a race that ended Marlin’s brilliant career.

Caught between horses--Expelled on the fence and Sandpit on the outside--going into the first turn of the 1 1/4-mile race, Marlin injured his right foreleg. Despite that, he finished second, one length behind the late-charging Rainbow Dancer, before being disqualified to fourth by the stewards for interfering with Sandpit and Lord Jain in the stretch.

Sandpit, trying to win the Oak Tree for the second time, finished fourth, beaten by 3 1/4 lengths. He was moved up to third and Lord Jain, who finished third, 2 3/4 lengths behind Rainbow Dancer, was moved up to second place.

“It’s probably the end of the line for him as a racehorse,” trainer Wayne Lukas said of Marlin from the post-race receiving barn. “He’s too valuable of a horse [as a stallion] to go any further with. He tore a suspensory [ligament]. He ran a hell of a race considering all this.”

The 7-5 favorite in Sunday’s five-horse field, Marlin was a head in front with an eighth of a mile left. The 4-year-old colt was a horse for all courses this year, winning the San Luis Rey and the San Juan Capistrano Handicap at Santa Anita, the Sunset Handicap at Hollywood Park and the Arlington Million.

He would have been one of the favorites for the $2-million Breeders’ Cup Turf at Hollywood Park on Nov. 8. Instead, he’ll go to stud with a record of nine wins in 26 starts--all but one of the victories on grass--and earnings of $2.4 million.

“I got slammed real hard in that first turn,” said Gary Stevens, who rode Marlin. “The horse on the inside came out and Sandpit just held his position. [Jockey Corey Nakatani on Sandpit] was just doing his job, but unfortunately that worked to my horse’s disadvantage. My horse got jarred just as he was changing leads, and I think that’s when it happened. He wasn’t aggressive after that. He was off real bad after the race. He was lame. I couldn’t even jog him back.”

Winning for the third time in six starts since the Rays bought him privately in France late last year, Rainbow Dancer paid $9.20 for $2 and earned $180,000. His time was 2:01 4/5, three seconds slower that the stakes record.

Rainbow Dancer, who broke in the air, was about five lengths behind Marlin with a quarter-mile left.

“Hopping in the air was the best thing that happened,” Solis said. “The other horses went a really good pace, and that set it up for my horse.”

Not long after Rainbow Dancer joined the Sahadi barn, he settled in to a diet of hay, water and grooms. One of his handlers was bitten on the thumb, breaking a bone in three places. Another groom required stitches after being bitten on the head.

“When he’s on the track,” Sahadi said, “he likes to goof off, like looking at the tote board instead of tending to his business. I’ve tried all kinds of different things with him, like working him on the turf, then switching to dirt and then putting him back on turf again. You’ve just got to keep him guessing. Kudos to Alex [Solis] for the job he’s done. He’s never lost his patience with the horse.”

In mid-stretch, Rainbow Dancer might have had a field day had he caught up with the horses that were playing bump and run up front.

“Rough?” said Eddie Delahoussaye, who finished last with Expelled. “That was unbelievable. It never fails in a five-horse race. Everybody is trying to outmaneuver everybody else. All of a sudden, through the stretch, they went wild. Some jocks started riding hard and weren’t focusing on what was going on.”

Horse Racing Notes

Besides Rainbow Dancer, Jenine Sahadi’s Breeders’ Cup plate includes Saturday winner Elmhurst, who will go in the Sprint, and El Angelo, who’s penciled in for the Mile. . . . Clear Mandate and Countess Diana are Breeders’ Cup-bound after victories over the weekend at Keeneland. Clear Mandate won the Spinster and heads for the Distaff, and Countess Diana, winner of the Alcibiades, is the likely favorite for the Juvenile Fillies. . . . The short list of European invaders got shorter when Royal Applause, a prospect for the Mile, was retired. . . . Trainer Mike Harrington hopes that Swiss Yodeler, a head behind Elmhurst in the Ancient Title Handicap, qualifies for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.