Stallion Rainbow Heir moonlighting as Breeders' Cup contender

Multiple stakes winner Rainbow Heir will be among the most consistent runners in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. His season leading up to this race has been most unorthodox. Rainbow Heir has returned to racing this fall after an active season at stud in Florida and is expected to resume his stud duties next February.

“I wanted to take him to Del Mar for the Breeders’ Cup last year, but in the end, we decided against it,” trainer Jason Servis said. “[Ebby Novak of owner and breeder New Farm] told me I had to have him in Ocala in February to go to stud, but I wanted to keep running him. Ebby made me a deal and said he would send him back to me after breeding season and we could see how he did.

“He’s been great, not studdish or anything.”

:: DRF BREEDING LIVE: Real-time coverage of breeding and sales

Rainbow Heir has 14 wins, including nine stakes, from 32 career starts. He won the Aqueduct Turf Sprint Championship last November and the Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint in January before going to Ocala Stud. He covered 30 mares last season, according to The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred.

After returning to Servis, Rainbow Heir reappeared on the work tab on July 20. In his only start of the fall, he finished third in the Grade 3 Turf Monster last month at Parx.

The New Jersey-bred Rainbow Heir, a son of the late leading Florida sire Wildcat Heir, is scheduled to stand for a fee of $3,500 at Ocala Stud in 2019.

– additional reporting by Jim Dunleavy