Moquett searching for gold at end of Rainbows

Trainer Ron Moquett is hoping to see a double rainbow Friday at Oaklawn Park.

He has runners in both the Rainbow, race 9, and Rainbow Miss, race 5, the six-furlong, $100,000 stakes for Arkansas-bred 3-year-olds that highlight a 10-race card that begins at 1:05 p.m. Central.

Moquett has two chances in the Rainbow, the most notable Man in the Can, who split the field when facing elders in an allowance race Feb. 27, his lone start since a debut win Dec. 4 at Remington.

“I thought it was a sneaky-good race, considering the way the track was playing, he had to take dirt, and he was in traffic,” Moquett said in a telephone interview. “He was running against older, so he’ll get some class relief. I think he’s very live in this spot, but he’s got to bring his ‘A’ game.”

Man in the Can picks up Joel Rosario, who is in Hot Springs for the remainder of the meet.

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Moquett also entered the winless Implicator when it became apparent during the entry process for a recent maiden race that he was not going to get in owing to an overflow field.

“He was going to be excluded from the maiden special weight,” Moquett said. “I want to run him as much as I can here because the purses are so high.”

Ten males are entered in the Rainbow. For Moquett to prevail, his horses will have to defeat the speedy Zaino Boyz, who ships in from Gulfstream Park, where he comes off a front-running victory in a first-level optional-claiming sprint in which he got a Beyer Speed Figure of 78, the best last-out fig in the race.

Zaino Boyz picks up Joe Talamo, who rode Tempt Fate to a win against maidens on April 3 at Oaklawn. Corey Lanerie inherits the mount on Tempt Fate.

Captain Don, who finished in front of Man in the Can when second in the Feb. 27 allowance, looks to bounce back after regressing on a muddy, sealed track on March 14.

In the Rainbow Miss, which is restricted to fillies, Moquett has Proud Victoria, who exits a deep stakes race for older Arkansas-breds, the Downthedustyroad, on Feb. 22. Proud Victoria was the only 3-year-old in the field and finished fourth behind 3-5 Bye Bye J, who won the Rainbow Miss last year when trained, at the time, by Moquett. Both the second- and third-place finishers from the Downthedustyroad returned to win their next starts.

“That was only her second start, so she probably was at an experience disadvantage, too,” Moquett said.

Eight fillies are entered in the Rainbow Miss, including Choctaw Charlie, who despite being a maiden should receive significant support off her two efforts to date, both narrow losses in full fields with inside draws. She starts from post 5 on Friday, just inside Proud Victoria, and gets Rosario.

Trainer William VanMeter doubles up with The Mary Rose, who lost a heartbreaker in allowance company April 2, and Sekani, whose maiden win one start back on Feb. 17 produced a Beyer Figure of 67, tops in this field.