Canadian Champion Pink Lloyd Chasing Fourth Straight Score In Jacques Cartier Stakes

Multiple stakes winner and multiple Sovereign Award champion Pink Lloyd, with Rafael Hernandez in the irons, will make his eight-year-old debut in Thursday's Grade 3, $125,000 Jacques Cartier Stakes, at Woodbine.

Trained by Hall of Fame conditioner Robert Tiller and owned by Entourage Stable, Pink Lloyd, a 22-time winner from 27 starts, chases his fourth straight score in the six-furlong Jacques Cartier.

A victory would put the Ontario-bred son of Old Forester in the record books as the only horse to win four consecutive editions of the race. Pink Lloyd currently shares the mark with Essence Hit Man, an Ontario-bred son of Speightstown, who won the added-money race from 2011-13.

“That would be astronomical,” said Tiller, one win shy of 2,000 for his career. “There's really no word for it. There are no words for this horse, whether he wins or loses. I know he's going to run a big one. I've got him as ready as I can get him. He's a legend. If that [stakes record for wins] were to happen, it would be absolutely wonderful.”

While his stature as a fleet-of-foot sprinter and fan favorite remains unchanged, there will be one notable difference when Pink Lloyd takes to the Tapeta on Saturday.

His regular rider, champion jockey Eurico Rosa da Silva, called it a career at the end of the 2019 Woodbine campaign, finishing with 2,286 wins, including 249 stakes triumphs.

The seven-time Sovereign Award-winning rider will be tuning in to watch the Jacques Cartier.

“I will watch the race and I will say to Pink Lloyd, 'Just give your best, be safe, and I love you.' That's what will be in my mind when he loads into the gate,” said Da Silva.

Hernandez will now take over the reins of a horse that went undefeated in eights starts – all stakes – in 2017, en route to three Sovereigns, highlighted by Horse of the Year honors.

“It's not a new rider, it's an old rider,” said Tiller, of Hernandez (Da Silva was serving a riding suspension), who teamed with the chestnut to win the 2018 Jacques Cartier while also setting the track standard, 1:08.05, for six furlongs on the Tapeta. “He's won with the horse. It was a logical choice, a no-brainer to me.”

“For me to ride the horse back is a pleasure,” said Hernandez. “He's an unbelievable horse. The only time I was on the horse, he broke the track record. I feel good about that.

“I'm always going to do my best and try to win as many as we can. He knows how to run. He's an old horse and does everything by himself. He just needs somebody on him to make the race official. He's so good, he doesn't need anybody on his back. He can do everything. He broke good, he can get himself where he wants, and he knows when it's time to run. When he turns for home and he switches leads, he knows it's time to go and the next stop for him is the winner's circle.

“I appreciate the owners and Bob Tiller giving me the opportunity to ride him back and I'm going to do my best every time I get on the horse. I feel that horse is like Woodbine's horse. Everybody cheers for that horse every time he runs.”

In May, Pink Lloyd, bred by John Carey, was voted top male sprinter for the third straight year. Unbeaten in six stakes starts in 2019, he also won his second Sovereign as champion older male main track runner.

The gelding's sizable talent – and trophy haul – is matched by a big personality.

“His personality is ridiculous,” said groom Michelle Gibson, with a laugh. “I guess the best way to describe 'Pink' would be a grumpy old man. He is not a mushy, lovey kind of horse, except in his own way. You have to know him to appreciate when he's lovey-dovey. He is all class every day and extremely smart. He knows when it's entry day, race day or just a walk day. And he's very vocal. He lets you know he is the man. The way he comes out of the starting gate is pretty much the same as when he exits his stall to go train in mornings. He loves it. And when he is in his 'spot,' chilling, nothing is going make him move – not me or the boss. 'Pink' really only does what 'Pink' wants and of course we all allow it. So when you see him switch leads in the stretch and come flying down to the wire, you know that's because 'Pink' wants it.”

When asked for two words to describe one of Canada's most prolific sprint stars, longtime assistant trainer Tom Lottridge responded, “simply awesome.”

“This horse, he has given me more thrills and excitement than any other horse in my career,” said Gibson. “I cry every time he crosses the wire because he just does it with all heart and for the pure love of racing. I am honoured and blessed to be in his company every day. I would do anything for 'Pink' and he would do the same for me.”

Tiller is expecting another strong showing from his stable star in his season's debut.

“He's doing very, very well right now. I expect a big race. Sometimes he gets too sharp, and he gets goofing off around the gate, but he's been really good. And he's had a lot of training on the main track, which I think is going to help him. If he behaves himself, I think he's going to be very hard to beat.”

The Jacques Cartier is slated as race seven on Thursday's eight-race card. First post time is 3:45 p.m. ET. Fans can watch and wager on all the action via HPIbet.com and tune into Racing Night Live on TSN3 and TSN5 from 6-8 p.m. for live racing from Woodbine Racetrack and Woodbine Mohawk Park.

$125,000 Jacques Cartier Stakes (Grade 3)

Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer

1 – Malibu Secret – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Martin Drexler

2 – Dixie's Gamble – Luis Contreras – Josie Carroll

3 – Circle of Friends – Patrick Husbands – Donald MacRae

4 – Not So Quiet – Kazushi Kimura – Mark Casse

5 – Pink Lloyd – Rafael Hernandez – Robert Tiller

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Maclean’s Music Firster Professional on Churchill Debut

3rd-Churchill Downs, $77,248, Msw, 6-19, 2yo, 5f, :57.49, ft.
JACKIE’S WARRIOR (c, 2, Maclean’s Music–Unicorn Girl, by A. P. Five Hundred) topped off a concise worktab with a bullet half-mile from the gate in :47 1/5 at Keeneland June 9 and was made the 21-10 second favorite on debut. Hustled along early to contest the pace from the inside, Jackie’s Warrior was taken hold of by Ricardo Santana, Jr. at the 3 1/2-furlong pole and switched out into the two path. Despite having lost some momentum in so doing, the $95,000 Keeneland September graduate got had dead aim turning for home, struck to the front with a furlong and a half to race and pulled away to graduate by 2 1/2 lengths. Therideofalifetime (Candy Ride {Arg}) closed off well for second. Cousteau (Into Mischief), favored at 11-10, was off slowly, made a menacing move on the turn, but raced greenly late and crossed the line fifth. Produced by a 19-time winning half-sister to MSW Bernie the Maestro (Bernstein), Jackie’s Warrior has a yearling half-sister by Candy Ride and a foal half-brother by American Pharoah. Sales history: $95,000 Ylg ’19 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $45,064. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
O-J Kirk Robison; B-J & J Stables (KY); T-Steven M Asmussen.

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Three Longshots to Consider on Saturday’s Belmont Stakes Card

Big-race days are often great spots to find value with deep fields filled with talented runners. While quite a few of the graded stakes on Saturday’s Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets card came up light on volume of entrants, there are a several spots on a fun Belmont Park race card where I found horses that I think can outrun their morning-line odds.

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Weekend Lineup: Belmont Stakes Kicks Off American Triple Crown

For the first time in history, the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Stakes will serve as the first leg of the American Triple Crown when the classic takes place on June 20. The Belmont Stakes, which will be contested at 1 1/8-miles instead of its typical 12 furlongs, is one of six graded stakes and four Grade 1s on Belmont Park's Saturday card and will offer 150-60-30-15 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top-four finishers.

NBC will broadcast the 152nd Belmont Stakes with coverage of it stakes-laden card beginning at 2:45 p.m. ET. NBC will also broadcast the Royal Ascot meet on Saturday beginning at 9 a.m. ET.

For the first time since it began in 2016, America's Day at the Races will air Saturday's Belmont Stakes Day coverage, with several major races preceding the Belmont Stakes to be shown on the networks of FOX Sports starting at 11:30 a.m. ET. FOX Sports will offer 4 ½-hours of live coverage, which will sandwich NBC's live broadcast of Belmont Stakes Day from 2:45 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET.

HRRN's Belmont Stakes broadcast will air from 4:30-6 p.m. ET, and will be preceded by a 30-minute broadcast of the Acorn on the Belmont undercard beginning at 4 p.m. ET.

Saturday June 20

12:25 p.m.—$250,000 Grade 1 Woody Stephens Stakes at Belmont Park on FS1

Cash is King and LC Racing's Mischevious Alex, who captured the Grade 3 Gotham last out on March 7 for trainer John Servis, headlines the seven-furlong Woody Stephens. The Into Mischief bay, bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm, arrives at Saturday's test for sophomores on a three-race streak that includes scores in the Parx Juvenile in November and the Grade 3 Swale in February at Gulfstream Park ahead of his Gotham glory. Undefeated since the addition of blinkers for his Parx Juvenile score, Mischevious Alex boasts a record of 7-4-1-1 with purse earnings of $344,230.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL062020USA2-EQB.html

1:42 p.m.—$150,000 Grade 2 Pennine Ridge Stakes at Belmont Park on FS1

Grade 1-winner Decorated Invader headlines the Pennine Ridge over the Widener turf. Owned by Terry Finley's West Point Thoroughbreds in partnership with William T. Freeman, William Sandbrook and Cheryl Manning, Decorated Invader took Gulfstream Park's Cutler Bay on March 28 in his most recent start. The son of Declaration of War hit the gate at the break and was 15 lengths off the pace before making a five-wide move at the top of the stretch to garner a career-best 88 Beyer Speed Figure for the victory for trainer Christophe Clement.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL062020USA4-EQB.html

3:01 p.m.—$150,000 Grade 3 Wonder Again Stakes at Belmont Park on NBC

Robert and Lawana Low's graded stakes winner Sweet Melania will attempt to keep her consistent record intact when she returns off a seven-and-a-half month layoff in Saturday's Wonder Again at Belmont Park. Trained by Todd Pletcher, Sweet Melania, a chestnut daughter of American Pharoah, graduated in July at third asking in a 1 1/16-mile turf tilt at Saratoga Race Course. She followed up a month later at the Spa with a strong effort in the P.G. Johnson when second, by a neck, to Crystalle ahead of a front-running 5 1/2-length score in the Grade 2 Jessamine on October 9 at Keeneland. She completed a lengthy 2-year-old campaign in November with a prominent third in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL062020USA6-EQB.html

4:02 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Wilshire Stakes at Santa Anita Park on TVG

A recent winner of two consecutive graded stakes, trainer Jonathan Wong's rapidly improving Keeper Ofthe Stars will square off with Neil Drysdale's classy comebacker Toinette as they head a field of seven fillies and mares in Saturday's Wilshire Stakes at one mile over the Santa Anita turf. A half length winner of the Grade 2 Buena Vista Stakes at one mile on turf February 22, this 4-year-old daughter of Midnight Lute came back to score the biggest win of her career on May 25, taking the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes by 1 ¼ lengths.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA062020USA2-EQB.html

4:15 p.m.—$300,000 Grade 1 Acorn Stakes at Belmont Park on NBC

Tracy Farmer's Grade 1-winner Perfect Alibi has been ready to debut her 3-year-old form for the better part of the last few months. On Saturday, Belmont Stakes Day, the daughter of Sky Mesa will finally get the chance to take some tangible steps forward in her progress when she headlines a field of seven sophomore fillies in the Acorn Stakes. When Perfect Alibi heads to post in the Acorn – which has produced such divisional champions as Abel Tasman (2017) and Monomoy Girl (2018) in recent seasons – it will mark the first competitive outing for the dark bay filly since her fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita Park on November 1.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL062020USA8-EQB.html

4:53 p.m.—$250,000 Grade 1 Jaipur Stakes at Belmont Park on NBC

An eclectic field of eight turf sprinters has lined up for Jaipur Stakes, which features a pair from the barn of Christophe Clement, a quartet of West Coast invaders and the star-crossed Hidden Scroll. Chief among the motley crew assembled for the Jaipur is the elder statesman Pure Sensation, who goes out for Clement and owner Patricia Generazio as he makes his 9-year-old debut off a fifth-place finish in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint to close out 2019. No stranger to this race, the gray Zensational gelding won the Jaipur in 2016, finished fourth in 2017 and third in 2018. Though he missed the Jaipur last year, he still put together a productive campaign which included wins in a pair of Grade 3 events at Parx Racing and an ungraded stake at Penn National.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL062020USA9-EQB.html

5:01 p.m.—$200,000 Grade 2 Wise Dan Stakes at Churchill Downs on FS2

Gaining Ground Racing's three-time stakes winner Factor This will lead a field of 11 older horses that entered Saturday's 31st running of the Wise Dan Stakes on the turf. Factor This, a previous $62,500 claim in 2018, has won five races with trainer Brad Cox, including back-to-back stakes victories in the Grade 3 Fair Grounds and Grade 2 Muniz Memorial. The 5-year-old son of The Factor has been working consistently over the turf course at Churchill Downs with his pilot Shaun Bridgmohan aboard.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/CD062020USA9-EQB.html

5:42 p.m.—$1,000,000 Grade 1 Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park on NBC

A history-making Saturday will see the 152nd running of the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park serve as the Triple Crown's first leg for the first time in history. Sackatoga Stable's Tiz the Law headlines the 10-horse field, and will look to become the first NY-bred in 138 years to win the American Classic. The Barclay Tagg trainee is the race's only multiple graded stakes winner and has already registered a pair of Grade 1 triumphs, starting with his only previous Belmont Park appearance when he followed a debut win by posting a four-length victory in the Champagne in October. Tiz the Law, the No. 1-ranked horse on the NTRA Top Three-Year-Old Poll, has continued to train forwardly at Belmont, including a half-mile breeze in :50.42 seconds over Big Sandy on Sunday in his last work before the start of Triple Crown season.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/BEL062020USA10-EQB.html

7:32 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 Lazaro Barrera Stakes at Santa Anita Park on NBCSN

Fresh off a huge allowance score going six furlongs, trainer Mark Glatt's talented Collusion Illusion will stretch out a half-furlong and make his second start off an extended vacation as he heads Saturday's Lazaro Barrera Stakes at Santa Anita. The Barrera, named for the late Hall of Fame trainer, has attracted a field of five sophomores going 6 ½ furlongs. Bob Baffert's speedy Ragtime Blues, a winner of his last two starts, will get the first time services of Mike Smith and also figures prominently in what will be his fourth career start.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA062020USA9-EQB.html

Sunday June 21

4:09 p.m.—$125,000 Grade 3 Whimsical Stakes at Woodbine on TVG

Sovereign Award-winning Summer Sunday, owned by Anne and William Scott, makes her five-year-old debut in the Whimsical Stakes. A seven-time winner from 11 starts, Summer Sunday takes on nine rivals, including graded stakes champion Jean Elizabeth, in the six-furlong Whimsical. Trained by Stuart Simon, Summer Sunday won three of six 2019 starts, including the Grade 2 Royal North Stakes, en route to Sovereign honors as Canada's champion female sprinter.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/WO062120CAN7-EQB.html

6 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 San Juan Capistrano Stakes at Santa Anita Park on NBCSN

A pair of long fused veterans, California-bred Ward 'n Jerry and Kentucky-bred Red King, third in last year's running, head a field of eight 3-year-olds and up on the turf in the San Juan Capistrano. The 81st renewal of the San Juan, Santa Anita's traditional closing day feature, will again include a hillside start at the top the Camino Real Turf Course. A homebred 7-year-old gelding by the late Lucky Pulpit, Ward 'n Jerry rates top billing in a wide open affair in which just one of the runners have ever run this far. Although he was most recently a non-threatening fifth in the Crystal Water Stakes at one mile on turf June 6, he took the Grade 3 San Luis Rey Stakes by an impressive 1 ¼ lengths two starts back on March 21.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA062120USA6-EQB.html

8 p.m.—$100,000 Grade 3 American Stakes at Santa Anita Park on TVG

In a field replete with classy veterans returning off extended vacations, Richard Mandella's fast-improving Border Town seeks his third consecutive win in Sunday's American Stakes. Trainer Mark Glatt will be well represented by multiple graded stakes winner Sharp Samurai, who has been idle since August 18, and Phil D'Amato will send out a pair of classy comebackers, multiple Grade 1-winner Bowies Hero, idle since November 2, and graded stakes winning Cleopatra's Strike, who's been idle 4 ½ months.

Entries: https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/SA062120USA10-EQB.html

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