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Equibase Analysis: Ride A Comet May Be Able To End Pink Lloyd’s Win Streak In Kennedy Road

The field for Saturday's Grade 2, $175,000 Kennedy Road Stakes at Woodbine is led by Pink Lloyd, a fan favorite who has racked up 26 wins from 32 races all on the all-weather main track at Woodbine, including all four during his 2020 campaign. Among the other six in the Kennedy Road field, three have been victims to Pink Lloyd's tremendous will to win, while three others are facing him for the first time.

Leading that group is Grade 2 Nearctic Stakes winner Silent Poet, with an accomplished record consisting of 10 wins in 18 races. Then there's Ride a Comet, winner of the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby in the summer of 2018. Ride a Comet returned from a 25 month layoff last month at Woodbine and won as if he had never been away. Souper Stonehenge is another horse never seeing the back end of Pink Lloyd to date. He's never run in a stakes race but enters the race off a win in his second start back from 11 months off.

Dixie's Gamble has won six of nine races when Pink Lloyd wasn't in the race, including the Overskate Stakes last fall but he has been soundly defeated in four confrontations with the likely favorite. Similarly, Eskiminzin has been defeated in all five matchups against Pink Lloyd and has won six times from 26 other races. Roaring Forties has finished fourth and seventh behind Pink Lloyd this year and was fifth in the Grade 3 Durham Cup Stakes in his most recent start.

Ride a Comet may be the right horse to end Pink Lloyd's perfect four-for-four streak this year. This talented horse won five of his first 10 races, including the Del Mar Derby in September, 2018, defeating multiple stakes winner River Boyne in the process. With whatever put him on the sidelines from that race until his comeback last month behind him, Ride a Comet returned in extraordinary fashion with a visually impressive effort that saw him go from seventh and six lengths behind the leader on the turn to the front of the field by the eighth pole. Considering he was ridden out to victory, it appears there's a lot of gas left in the tank and logically the horse should improve markedly second off the layoff.

Since that race, Ride a Comet has put in three exceptional workouts at Woodbine including one which was the second best of 41 on the day. When he won the Del Mar Derby at the end of his three year old season, Ride a Comet earned a 110 Equibase Speed Figure which is comparable to the 111 figure Pink Lloyd earned winning this race in 2019, and therefore Ride a Comet gets top billing.

Silent Poet and leading Woodbine jockey Justin Stein should be able to take advantage of an otherwise paceless race and go to the front easily at the start of the race. Silent Poet has earned nearly all of his wins when leading or pressing the pace in second from the start, including his last two races. The first of the two was an allowance race with a stakes level $100,000 purse and the second was the Nearctic Stakes at this distance on grass. Those efforts yielded 103 and 104 figures which, with slight improvement, put Silent Poet in the thick of the action down to the wire in the Kennedy Road. I'm not concerned about his duplicating those efforts on the main track as he was second in the Sir Barton Stakes the last time he ran on the main track at Woodbine.

Pink Lloyd's accomplishments speak for themselves, as he's dominated the sprint stakes ranks at Woodbine for many years. With streaks of five in a row in 2019 and five in a row coming into this race, including all four races this year, he's proven to have an attitude about winning which matches his ability. Pink Lloyd was second in the 2016 edition of this race, won it in 2017, skipped it in 2018 and won it again in 2019. Still, except for last year's Kennedy Road in which he earned a 111 figure, his four wins this year earned 103, 102, 92 and 101 figures, which aren't dominant in any way when compared against Ride a Comet (99 last race and 110 before the layoff), Silent Poet (104 last race) and Souper Stonehenge (102 last race). All three of those horses have never faced Pink Lloyd previously and all appear to be as capable of winning as the likely betting favorite. That's not to say Pink Lloyd can't rise to the occasion and win just as he's done time and time again.

The rest of the field, with their best Equibase Speed Figures in a similar race, is Dixie's Gamble (105), Eskiminzin (98), Roaring Forties (93) and Souper Stonehenge (102).

Win Contenders, in preference order:
Ride a Comet
Silent Poet
Pink Lloyd

Kennedy Road Stakes – Grade 2
Race 9 at Woodbine
Saturday, November 21 – Post Time 5:28 PM E.T.
Six Furlongs on All-Weather
3-Year-Olds and Upward
Purse: $175,000

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Pink Lloyd’s Winning Streak in Jeopardy in Kennedy Road Stakes

The field for the Grade 2, $175,000 Kennedy Road Stakes is led by Pink Lloyd, a fan favorite who has racked up 26 wins from 32 races all on the all-weather main track at Woodbine, including all four starts in his 2020 campaign.

Sand Colic Survey Results Lead To Interesting Conclusion

Horse owners and veterinarians have assumed for many years that horses develop sand colic because they accidentally ingest sand. A new study out of Finland suggests some horses may develop sand colic because they actually seek out and eat the soil.

Drs. Kati E.Niinistö, Meri Määttä, Mirja Ruohoniemi, Maria Paulaniemi and Marja Raekallio conducted an online survey of owners whose horses had been radiographed at some point in their lives to check for sand accumulation in their gut. Survey questions included what signs prompted the call to the veterinarian, how the horse was managed at the time of the vet call and how much sand had accumulated. A total of 447 surveys were used.

The scientists found that the veterinarian was called because the owner suspected sand accumulation and X-rays confirmed the suspicion. Symptoms of sand ingestion seen most often among respondents were colic, diarrhea and poor performance, which his often a subtle sign. “Poor performance” can mean that the horse doesn't want to go forward or may not be moving well.

Horses that exhibited signs of colic often had significant accumulations of sand in their gut. The team also found a correlation between poor performance and large sand accumulation. Horses that were colicky and had poor performance had the highest levels of sand in their gut.

Interestingly, the study team found no connections between sand accumulation, management or housing. This may be because some horses habitually ingest soil. The scientists are collecting samples to determine if any of the horses with sand accumulation are deficient in trace minerals, which would cause them to seek out soil to ingest.

The team also discovered that horses that cleaned up every scrap of hay had larger sand accumulations than horses that didn't eat all their hay. This may be related to keeping horses out for long periods without access to proper grass.

Whether sand ingestion is intentional or a byproduct of greedy horses, prevention of sand accumulation is key. Treating susceptible horses with psyllium a few times a year can clear sand that has already been ingested; feeding in a bucket and offering hay or muzzling horses that forage too much are also options.

‘Ending Of A Wonderful Chapter’: Trainer Will VanMeter Disbanding Stable

Trainer Will VanMeter, 37, is stepping away from training Thoroughbreds after six years with his license, according to a post he made on Twitter.

“The hammer falling after the sale of Edgemont Road also signified the ending of a wonderful chapter in myself and Kristin's lives,” Vanmeter wrote, referred to his wife. “We sadly will be removing our shingle from Barn 62 on Rice Road after eight rewarding years conditioning Thoroughbreds.”

Stakes-placed Edgemont Road sold at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale on Nov. 17, hammering for $275,000 to Eddie Kenneally, agent for William Werner.

VanMeter, the son of well-known consignor and former practicing veterinarian Tom VanMeter, saddled a total of 64 winners from 527 starters with earnings of more than $3.3 million.

“Thank you to all the men and women that have woken 365 days a year before the sunrise to work in our shed,” VanMeter wrote. “In particular: Kristin VanMeter, Headley VanMeter, and Sarah Hamilton for being the bedrock of our stable. They helped build an atmosphere of professionalism and attention to detail that has been a pleasure to work within.”

VanMeter also thanked mentors D. Wayne Lukas, Sebastian Nicholl, and Tom Voss, as well as John Ed and Isabel Anthony, and owners Dr. Thomas VanMeter, Mr. and Mrs. Tommy Ligon, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Fletcher, Mr. Dennis Park, Mr. and Mrs. John Mayer, Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Allor, Mr. and Mrs. Lindsay LaRoche.

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