4/2/26 Rainbow Miss Advance
By Robert Yates
Oaklawn Stakes Preview - $150,000 Rainbow Miss Stakes – Friday, April 3
Texas-based trainer Danny Pish has more than 2,700 career victories, but he’s never won an Oaklawn stakes race.
That could change Friday when Pish starts even-money program favorite Walk Away Kaye in the six-furlong $150,000 Rainbow Miss for accredited Arkansas-bred 3-year-old fillies.
The Rainbow Miss headlines a 10-race card that begins at 12:45 p.m. (Central). Probable post time for the Rainbow Miss, the ninth race, is 5:06 p.m.
Pish, through March 28, had already equaled his single-season Oaklawn best for victories (six) and established a local career high for purse earnings ($312,500). Pish won six races at the 2019 meeting, with his horses generating $206,969 in purse earnings.
Pish started his first horse at Oaklawn in 2001 and was a combined 1 for 71 at the 2009 and 2011 meetings.
“It means a lot to me,” Pish said. “Oaklawn was always my Achilles' heel. I’ve been fortunate enough to have success in most places I’ve been, but I think over the years I struggled at Oaklawn more than I did at any other location that I chose to be stabled on the grounds at. That was always a little bit of a thorn in my side. A few years back, I moved to north Texas and I knew I’d be going to Oaklawn more and I told myself: ‘Man, I’ve got to get myself established at that place and I’ve got to have a meet where I get some respect.’ So, it’s beginning to happen. Hopefully, we can continue to do that.”
Walk Away Kaye races for her breeders, Van Buren, Ark.-based JRita Young Thoroughbreds of Everett “JR” Young and wife Rita.
Walk Away Kaye won her Nov. 15 career debut at Remington Park and has made her last three starts at Oaklawn.
Walk Away Kaye finished second to Counting Stars in the inaugural $135,000 Astral Spa Overnight Stakes Dec. 14, fourth in the $150,000 Mockingbird Stakes Jan. 4 and second in an entry-level allowance Feb. 28. All three races were six furlongs.
Counting Stars returned to win the $1 million Fantasy Stakes (G2) – Oaklawn’s biggest two-turn race for 3-year-old fillies – March 27. The allowance race was Walk Away Kaye’s first in Arkansas-bred company.
“Since the day she broke her maiden, we’ve been kind of eyeballing this race,” said Pish, whose first career training victory was in 1995. “She’s coming into it in good fashion, so we’re feeling good about it. We know this: You have to earn everything you get, but we feel like she’s ready to go earn it and we’re just hoping for a clean trip and a little bit of racing luck.”
Erik Asmussen retains the mount on Walk Away Kaye, who is scheduled to break from post 5 in the 10-horse field and carry 117 pounds.
JRita Young Thoroughbreds won the 2018 Rainbow Miss with Georgia’s Reward, who was trained by Ron Moquett of Hot Springs. Pish began training for the Youngs last summer.
The 9-5 second choice in the program is Cuda Cutie for trainer Aaron West, who is seeking his first career Oaklawn victory. Cuda Cutie, in her Oaklawn debut, finished second in an allowance sprint for state-breds Feb. 28. Emmanuel Esquivel retains the mount from the rail.
