Easter Indy, Jean’s Beauty back with their peers

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Easter Indy and Jean’s Beauty both ran competitive races against quality older rivals in their last starts, and the return to racing with 3-year-olds Saturday at Oaklawn in the $75,000 Rainbow Miss would seem to be an advantage for both fillies. They are part of an eight-horse field for the six-furlong sprint restricted to 3-year-old fillies bred in Arkansas.

Easter Indy was fifth in the $75,000 Downthedustyroad earlier this month at Oaklawn, while Jean’s Beauty was second in a first-level allowance. They will be joined in the gate by Be My Caroline and Wolf City, each of whom has a full sister who won the Rainbow Miss. Be My Caroline’s older sister is All About Allie, a six-time stakes winner who earned $311,298, while Wolf City’s sister, Ile St. Molly, was a three-time stakes winner who also ran second in the Grade 2 Delaware Oaks.

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Rainbow Miss, race 9

KEY CONTENDERS

Easter Indy (Last 3 Beyers: 63-66-62)

◗ She contested the pace over a laboring track in the Downthedustyroad on March 6 and finished 7 3/4 lengths behind winner Pistolpackinpenny, who is scheduled to run Friday in the $75,000 Arkansas Breeders’ Stakes.

◗ Easter Indy owns the best last-race Beyer Speed Figure in the Rainbow Miss.

◗ Walter De La Cruz has the mount for trainer Bill Martin.

Jean’s Beauty (Last 3 Beyers: 57-48-48)

◗ She rallied in the slop to finish second by 2 1/4 lengths in the first-level allowance March 13. She found herself farther off the pace than usual in the race run at Oaklawn.

◗ Jean’s Beauty defeated older rivals when she won a maiden special weight March 1 at Oaklawn. Since that start, two horses she defeated returned to win their next races. The fourth-place finisher, Timeless Truth, aired in a $30,000 maiden claimer at Oaklawn, and the eighth-place finisher, Secret Temple, accounted for a maiden special weight, also in Hot Springs.

◗ Jean’s Beauty is a half-sister to Outright Buck, a two-time stakes winner who has earned $169,220.

◗ Alex Canchari has the mount for trainer Mac Robertson.