On Rainbow Bridge tries turf for first time in Passing Mood Stakes

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – On Rainbow Bridge locked horns with the likes of Lexie Lou and Paladin Bay last year before missing the second half of her 2-year-old season. She will try turf for the first time Saturday at Woodbine in the $125,000 Passing Mood Stakes, a seven-furlong sprint for 3-year-old fillies with a field that also contains the swift Executive Allure.

On Rainbow Bridge won two stakes last summer for trainer Dave Cotey. She also finished first in another restricted stakes, the Muskoka, but was demoted to second by disqualification for drifting into the path of Lexie Lou in the stretch.

On Rainbow Bridge went to the sidelines after ending up third Sept. 28 in the Victorian Queen Stakes. She came along the inside to land the seven-furlong Lady Angela Stakes when returning from an eight-month absence June 7.

“She cut the back of her tendon in her last [2-year-old] race,” Cotey said. “It wasn’t life- or career-threatening, but she cut it pretty good. She also had a little [training] mishap this spring, which set us back a bit.”

On Rainbow Bridge, a daughter of Bold Executive, is closely related to the multiple stakes winner Blonde Executive, who won the 2004 Passing Mood.

“I don’t know if she can run on the turf,” Cotey said. “She’s doing really well. If she handles it, I expect her to run a decent race. She always tries. We didn’t know if she’d be at her best in her first race of the year, but she came through and ran very good. She’s had plenty of time, five weeks, and shouldn’t bounce. We didn’t work her quick because she’s plenty fit enough.”

Skye Chernetz will ride the 128-pound highweight On Rainbow Bridge.

Executive Allure is another Bold Executive filly who was victorious in her belated season opener, which came in an Ontario-sired allowance on grass. She led throughout the Fanfreluche Stakes in her final 2-year-old excursion Oct. 26 on Polytrack.

“She had an injury when she won her stake last year,” trainer Darwin Banach said. “She made us wait a long time. She’s doing very well. Hopefully, she’ll stay like that for a few races. That’s why we moved her over to the turf, hoping that she’d get over the surface easier than the Polytrack.”

Cristina’s Halo is the other stakes winner in the lineup. She registered a 33-1 upset in a 12-horse field while capturing the open Alywow Stakes on the lawn June 15.