Monmouth: Rainbow Heir has no problem staying unbeaten in Jersey Shore

OCEANPORT, N.J. - When talking about Rainbow Heir, Ben Perkins Jr. often draws comparisons to the colt’s sire, Wildcat Heir.That link becomes more apparent with each victory.

Rainbow Heir is now 4 for 4 after his latest triumph, the Grade 3, $116,000 Jersey Shore Stakes for 3-year-olds on Thursday at Monmouth Park.

Wildcat Heir was a top class sprinter, the Grade 1 winner of the 2004 De Francis Memorial Dash for Perkins. Rainbow Heir is following those hoof prints.

“He reminds me a lot of Wildcat Heir,” Perkins said. “A very similar body and he has the same kind of disposition. Wildcat Heir was lightning fast but he was really relaxed. I think that’s what helps this horse so far.”

Those qualities were on display in the Jersey Shore.

Rainbow Heir, a New Jersey homebred for New Farm, cruised through his first three wins, beating nominal competition. He was tested in this spot against five rivals.

As usual Rainbow Heir bounded away from the gate, only to find he immediately had a running mate in Whiskey Romeo. The pair went humming along through fractions of 21.89 and 44.76 seconds with Amarish tucked right behind in third.

Approaching the stretch, jockey Joe Bravo was scrubbing away on Whiskey Romeo, the winner of 4 of 5 coming in, urging him to keep up. It was over. Rainbow Heir and Elvis Trujillo cut the corner and were gone.

“He had trained well coming up to it,” Perkins said. “I noticed the track was a little deeper today and he was the only horse on the grounds training over it. He has that really quick turn of foot but he relaxes afterward. After he got clear, Elvis was just sitting on him and waiting for someone to come to him.”

They never did.

Rainbow Heir cruised under the wire, five lengths better than Amarish with Uptown Boy rallying from last to get third.

The time was 1:09.43 for the six furlongs. He paid $4.40 to win.

With an unbeaten 3-year-old sprinter this time of year, thoughts often turn to Saratoga. The next spot could be the Grade 2 Amsterdam on July 28 or the Grade 1 King’s Bishop on Aug. 24.

“Those are two possibilities,” Perkins said. “Or we could wait. And he’s still eligible for a New Jersey-bred race.”

That’s certainly not good news for the other statebreds.

Two T’s At Two B was fourth followed by Res Judicata and Whiskey Romeo.