from Meadowlands Media Relations

Rainbow Blue has begun jogging in preparation for her return to the races in the spring of 2006.

The 2004 Horse of the Year has been sidelined since mid-June when she suffered a tendon tear while training for the $215,000 Lady Liberty Final at the Meadowlands. She was scratched out of the June 17 race with a record of four wins in four starts. She has a career bankroll of $1,428,934.

“Rainbow Blue is doing good, jogging,” reported her trainer and co-owner George Teague Jr. “I’ll start training her back in mid-January. Her leg looks good. The ultrasound was fine. She was doing so well when she got hurt, I didn’t see anyone beating her.

“One thing I have to be careful with her about is the track,” said the Delaware-based horseman. “In winter, the tracks can get very hard. So I’m going to be very cautious about that. I think she’ll be back as good as she ever was.

“Right now, my only concern is the weather,” he added. “I’m hoping there won’t be a lot of snow to back me up, that and the track conditions when she comes back. I would prep her once at Dover before taking on the big girls.

“I’m still thinking April for her, which was my original plan,” Teague said of the likely return to the races for Rainbow Blue.

“It’s a different era nowadays,” he noted. “It’s tougher to get a record like hers [victories in 30 of 32 races lifetime] than it used to be. They test you every start now. It used to be you could get a few easier ones. Not anymore.

“There are two or three girls at most that are at the very top level,” Teague said. “For the boys, there’s usually six or more, and anyone on any given night can win. I don’t have any plans to race her against the boys. It would take an incredible scenario for me to do that. I want to get her back first, to take on the girls and get to where she was. I couldn’t even think about anything else until that happened.

“The way I look at it, I am in charge of managing her career,” he noted. “I don’t want to mismanage her career. I think racing against the boys might be just that.”

Teague is also managing the career of one of the best two-year-old pacing colts of 2005, Western Ace, who won the Woodrow Wilson Pace at the Meadowlands.

“He’s sitting in the field relaxing,” Teague explained. “He’s filling out some. He’s never going to be a big horse, but I think he’s just the right size. He only wears a 52 ½-inch hobble. If you put 54s on him, they flop around. This year I have a few more babies, so I’m going to have to work a little harder.”

AROUND THE MEADOWLANDS FOR DECEMBER 30, 2005

Perth-bound trainer Brett Pelling will make his final appearance at the Meadowlands on Saturday and will be a featured interview prior to the card, which begins at 2:30 p.m. New Zealand-born Pelling announced his retirement this fall and his moving with his family to Perth, Australia in January.

Cat Manzi will be honored for capturing the North America dash championship after the fifth race on Saturday afternoon.

Saturday’s Racing from the Meadowlands Show on Fox Sports Net will feature a half-hour recap the December 31 program followed by the half-hour Best of 2005 highlights show. Airtime is midnight to 1 a.m.