by Rich Fisher, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Rich Fisher

Trenton, NJ — Does Somwherovrarainbow have another strong finish in her?

We may get an early answer to that on Saturday when she starts in a $67,960 division of the Quinton Patterson Adioo Volo stakes at The Meadows.

“If she races good Saturday we’re right back on course to race in the big races,” co-owner and trainer George Teague, Jr. said of his 3-year-old filly pacer. “She’s a big-time horse. I don’t want to waste the whole season, but to go into the other races against the big fillies if you’re not 100 percent, you’re not going to do any good.

“I didn’t go to the Fan Hanover because she was just getting sick then. And the Mistletoe Shalee, it was going for ($184,250) and I was hoping the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes would go for $100,000, but that didn’t work out either. And we didn’t win anyway.”

USTA/Ken Weingartner photo

Last year’s Dan Patch Award winning 2-year-old pacing filly has banked $640,567 in her career.

It has been an up and down season for Somwherovrarainbow after she won six in a row from September on to conclude a 2012 campaign that saw her receive a Dan Patch Award as the sport’s top 2-year-old pacing filly. Prior to that she had one win, two seconds and a third in five starts.

This year, the horse has won three of seven races and earned $113,411, but it has been an uneven ride due to some sickness.

Somwherovrarainbow opened with a third-place finish in the John Simpson Memorial before winning consecutive starts in the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes. But a virus limited her to a fourth in the Lynch Memorial eliminations and seventh in the final.

That was followed by a win in a division of the Pennsylvania All Stars and a second in the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes at the Meadows July 20.

In her last race, Somwherovrarainbow paced second behind South Pacific for the opening three-quarters of a mile then got caught in traffic when South Pacific slowed on the final turn and finished seventh.

“Last week it just didn’t work out; she got locked in,” Teague said. “I thought (South Pacific) would take us a little further than she did and she kind of stopped around the last turn and we got beat. But that’s racing.”

The bottom line is that Somwherovrarainbow seems to be on the upswing after her health issues.

“She got a little virus and it knocked her pretty good,” Teague said. “She seems to be better this week than she’s been the whole time. She’s doing good.

“She had some issues with her blood, but she seems to be back on track now.”

Whether that translates into another strong finish remains to be seen. Teague seems to think if she can maintain good health, anything is possible.

“You need things to go your way,” he said. “She hasn’t been as lucky as last year. And last year she wasn’t lucky early in the year either.

“I don’t want to sound like a whiny guy, if she goes out and gets beat, she gets beat. I don’t want to make excuses. But if you’re sick and try to compete against the big fillies it’s not going to work. She’s always had a little issue with tying up and that was the issue with her first start back at the Meadowlands (this year).”

That was followed by the virus that kept the horse sidelined for longer than Teague expected. But the trainer is hoping good health will be the rule from this point on.

“I still think she’s as good as any filly I’ve seen race, and better than most,” he said. “But she hasn’t been the luckiest. You’ve got to bring your best game; if there’s a little bit of a kink in your arsenal it will get exposed.

“She’s a good horse and could possibly be a great one. I still think she has the talent. She’s a real sound filly, so that hasn’t been an issue.”

Whatever the issues were, Teague hopes that Saturday will serve notice that they are of the past.