by Peter Kleinhans for the Red Mile
Rainbow Blue came to Lexington to win the $222,500 final of the Nadia Lobell, and she accomplished her goal and more.
![](http://ustrottingnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/5341-RainbowBlue.jpg)
Nigel Soult Photography
Rainbow Blue ties the world record with a 1:49.2 win in the Nadia Lobell at The Red Mile.
With Ron Pierce at the controls, the George Teague-trained filly sat a two-hole trip, vaulted out of the pocket at the top of the stretch, and exploded home to a 1:49.2 victory, shattering the track record by a full secondand equalling her world-record performance of three weeks ago.
Kikikatie, a winner of 19 of 22 starts and over $1,180,000 heading into the Nadia Lobell, set strong fractions throughout on the front end, covering the quarter in 26.4, the half in 54 seconds, and the three-quarters in 1:22 for David Miller. But when the field straightened away in the lane and Rainbow Blue came to the leader, Kikikatie proved powerless to stall the winner. Rainbow Blue blasted her individual final quarter in 27.1 and hit the wire two lengths clear of Kikikatie, who held very tough and was well clear of the rest of the field. So Artsi was third.
Rainbow Blue, who is owned by the K & R Racing LLC and Teague, Inc., has been nearly perfect in her career, with wins in 21 of 23 lifetime starts, but in her last three starts she has taken her game to an even higher level. On August 21, at Woodbine, the brilliant daughter of Artiscape equaled the world record for three-year-old pacing fillies of 1:49.2 (previously held solely by Incredible Tilly). She followed that up with a victory in the $543,543 final of the Fan Hanover at Woodbine in 1:51.1 over a sloppy racetrack. Tonight’s 1:49.2 credit gives her two of the three fastest miles ever paced by a three-year-old filly, and the season isn’t over yet.
Kikikatie, an incredibly consistent filly in her own right, has never been worse than third. She has lost only three races this year, and every one of them has been to Rainbow Blue. The Real Artist filly is owned by the L & L Devisser LLC of Holland, Michigan, and is trained by Joe Seekman.