Dubai Rainbow seeks better start

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - One would be hard-pressed to find a hotter trainer/owner combination than Mike Hushion and Marc Ferrell. The two have combined to record 10 wins and 4 seconds from 17 starters since getting together last year.

Dubai Rainbow is responsible for 2 wins and 2 seconds and looks live again in Sunday's $50,000 featured second-level allowance race going six furlongs at Aqueduct.

Like most of the horses Ferrell moved to Hushion, Dubai Rainbow has improved on dirt when compared to his races on the synthetic surfaces or turf of Southern California. Sandwiched around a maiden win at Penn National and a first-level allowance win over Aqueduct's inner track were two second-place finishes in which Dubai Rainbow was compromised by slow starts.

Last out, in this same condition, Dubai Rainbow was forced to steady at the break and was last early. He rallied four wide but could not match strides with Peace Town, who split horses in upper stretch and beat Dubai Rainbow by a half-length.

"It wasn't horrendous," Hushion said of the start. "He was a little further back than he's used to being. If he busts out of there, he can be pretty speedy."

Hushion said he'll leave the race tactics up to rider Channing Hill. With a clean break, Dubai Rainbow is likely to be forwardly placed from post 2. Have You Ever, who set the pace before finishing third in the same race Dubai Rainbow finished second in, looms the other speed horse in the field.

While dirt has seemed to move Dubai Rainbow up, Hushion noted the 4-year-old gelding has seemed to thrive with the cooler conditions on the East Coast.

"Of all the horses in the barn, his flesh and his coat have stayed the best all winter," Hushion said.

Jack on the Rocks, who got pretty good around here last spring, returns from a 7 1/2-month layoff precipitated by a pulled muscle he suffered when he leapt in the air at the start of a race at Saratoga. He was given time off to recover and has trained well for his return.

"I think he might need a race, but I still think he's going to run a good race," trainer Gary Gullo said. "They're calling for some rain, and he likes the mud. He's a good horse, he's been really training good, and it doesn't look like it's that tough of a race."