Woo Pig Sooie ready for debut at Oaklawn

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Woo Pig Sooie will get a lot of play at Oaklawn Park on Saturday in the $50,000 Rainbow. Named for the battle cry of the University of Arkansas Razorbacks, he was the favorite heading into his first start earlier this month. But he was scratched before he ever ran, and will end up making his career debut in the Rainbow, which is for 3-year-olds bred in Arkansas.

“He ended up having a negative reaction to Lasix,” said Ron Moquett, who trains Woo Pig Sooie. “It made him cramp up. He had an adverse reaction to the medication.”

Moquett said jockey Calvin Borel felt something was amiss when he was warming the horse up, brought it to the attention of officials, and Woo Pig Sooie was scratched just before post. The move drew some boos from the crowd who appreciated his name, but it was the right one, said Moquett.

“When Calvin said he wasn’t right, that’s all I needed to hear,” said Moquett. “Calvin knew that wasn’t the normal horse.”

Woo Pig Sooie will race on Lasix on Saturday, and has now had more time to become acclimated to the medication, said Moquett. He said he would have usually worked the horse on the medication before racing him on Lasix, but because of the inclement weather that canceled a number of mornings of training this winter he was unable to follow his usual protocol leading up to the original debut of Woo Pig Sooie.

Borel is back on Saturday. Woo Pig Sooie is one of the best bred members of the 13-horse Rainbow field as a son of Storm and a Half, who was the leading general sire in Arkansas last year. Woo Pig Sooie is also a half-brother to stakes winners Saratoga Boot and Sexy Boots. He races for TBS Farms.

The most accomplished member of the field is Heza Rainbow. He won the $50,000 Razorback for Arkansas-breds at Louisiana Downs in September, and will be making his first start since that race on Saturday. Heza Rainbow is part of a three-horse entry for trainer Eddie Ruiz. The barn will also send out Codes Diamond and Spanas Storm, with all three horses racing for their breeder, Richard P. Hogue Jr.

Ile St. Roy, who wired a maiden special weight field here Jan. 21, owns the field’s best last-race Beyer Speed Figure, a 68. Glen Murphy has the mount for trainer Kenny Smith.