Little Teddy, unbeaten in her past three starts, goes after her fourth stakes success in Sunday’s $100,000 Ballade, at Woodbine.
A 6-furlong main track event for Ontario-sired fillies & mares, four-year-olds and upward, the Ballade has attracted nine hopefuls, including Little Teddy, last year’s Sovereign Award winner as Canada’s Champion Female Sprinter.
Trained by Santino Di Paola, the 5-year-old daughter of Frac Daddy out of the Silent Name (JPN) mare Explosive Leah went 4-2-0 from six starts in 2025, a season that was highlighted by stakes wins in the Zadracarta and Eternal Search.
“I think the Zadracarta Stakes stands out from last year,” said Di Paola. “It was an Ontario-bred stakes race and the way she just drew off and just missed the track record was just so impressive.”
The roan mare kicked off her 2026 campaign with a sharp three-quarter length victory in a 5-furlong allowance optional claiming race on May 9.
“I think the most impressive aspect was her being 70 percent fit and running a 94 Beyer off the layoff and beating a Grade 2 winner who was winter raced,” said Di Paola. “It kind of makes me think the sky’s the limit for her this year.
“Anytime you get to walk into the Woodbine winner’s stakes circle, if it’s for an Ontario-sired stakes race or graded, it’s the same incredible walk over and experience. I’m hoping the team gets to make that walk on Sunday.”
After a seventh in her 2023 career debut, Little Teddy won her next start, at 48-1, before concluding her two-year-old campaign with a third in the Shady Well Stakes.
In 2024, Little Teddy won the 5-furlong Georgian Bay Stakes, in what was her first start on the turf. It was also the first Woodbine stakes win for owner York Tech Racing Stable, nom du course of Di Paola’s parents, Carmen and Raffaela Di Paola.
The conditioner is hoping for a repeat of that moment on Sunday. “She’s coming into this race a lot fitter than her last and I’m excited to see what she can do and where we go from there.”
Bred by Susan Rasmussen and H. Lothian, Little Teddy was a $15,000 (CDN) purchase at the 2022 CTHS Canadian Premier Yearling Sale. Joey Di Paola is the groom.
Recent works: Little Teddy took to the dirt training work for a quartet of June works, ranging from 3 furlongs to 5 panels. Her most recent move was a 3-furlong breeze in :37.60 on June 28. “I was prepping her for the Royal North Stakes (G2T) to be honest with you,” said Di Paola, of the 7 ½-furlong race won by Shifty on June 27. “So, I was pushing on her fitness level pretty hard, and she actually thrived with the extra work.
“Two weeks out, we had our big breeze, and I think she went :58:40, 1:11:1 on the gallop out with Austin [jockey, Adams] on by herself. It was impressive to watch and even more impressive that it took nothing out of her. Her last work was just a happy gallop like she normally does coming into these races.”
Fast Facts: Foaled in Kentucky, Ballade, a daughter of Herbager, was bred by Bob Byfield. She was purchased by E. P. Taylor for $55,000 (USD) from the 1973 Keeneland July Yearling Sale and spent her entire racing and breeding careers at the property of his Windfields Farm.
The race is part of Ontario Racing’s (TIP) Ontario Sires Stakes Program.
Wagering menu for the Ballade: Includes Rolling Double / Exacta / 0.20 Trifecta / 0.20 Superfecta / 0.20 Pick 3 (Races 10-11-12) / $1 Swinger
Field for the $100,000 Ballade Stakes
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
1 – Foresters Exec – Fraser Aebly – Patrick Dixon
2 – Olivia Rose – Rafael Hernandez – Mark Casse
3 – Little Teddy – Austin Adams – Santino Di Paola
4 – Cara Cara (S) – Romero Ramsay Maragh – John Mattine
5 – Give Me the Boots – Ryan Munger – Richard Morden
6 – Sinclairity – Pietro Moran – Kevin Attard
7 – Speedy Freeze – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Ron Sadler
8 – Minimum Forty – Eswan Flores – Robert Tiller
9 – Home for a Rest – Daisuke Fukumoto – Robert Tiller
Poulin in O T and jockey Pietro Moran winning Race 8 on April 27, 2025 at Woodbine. (Michael Burns Photo)
Poulin in O T shoots for Pink Lloyd score
Poulin in O T will take on six rivals in the $100,000 Pink Lloyd Stakes, Sunday at Woodbine.
Multiple graded stakes winning trainer Steve Owens will look to net his 21st career stakes victory in the Pink Lloyd, a 6-furlong main track race for Ontario-sired 4-year-olds and up, with his multiple stakes winner Poulin in O T.
A son of Reload out of the Dance Brightly mare Town Dance, the 6-year-old gelding has been a model of consistency over a 22-race career that has produced an 8-2-6 mark, along with $425,976 in purse earnings.
Owens lauded the resilient chestnut, who was sent to the sidelines last May after a second-place finish in a 7-furlong conditioned allowance race at Woodbine.
“We operated on a chip that he had in his ankle, took it out, and gave him eight months off before taking him to Gulfstream to prepare him for this year,” said the conditioner, who owns and co-bred Poulin in O T.
That patience paid off with a confident starter allowance score in his return this March at the Hallandale oval that earned him an 80 Beyer Speed Figure.
“He was training really well heading into that comeback race,” said Owens. “He loves the Tapeta at Gulfstream and showed it in his return to racing. After eight months of training, giving him the proper time to heal and giving him the care he needed, it was great to see him back in the winner’s circle. He deserved it.
“Some horses of his age – he’s gone through two surgeries in his career – you have to stop with them. But he’s never taken a step back since the ankle surgery. We monitor him daily and he’s been thriving.”
Poulin in O T returned to Woodbine for his next start, on May 3, and finished third in the Thorncliffe Stakes, a 5 ½-furlong fixture contested on the main track.
“I felt it was a good race,” said Owens. “I thought I had him too a little too weighty. That was my fault, coming from Gulfstream back to here, so we made a few adjustments and he’s thicker and more aerodynamic now.”
The Ontario-bred debuted on June 24, 2022, and romped to a 5 ¼-length win in a 4 ½ furlong main track race. He then stepped up to the stakes ranks on July 17, facing five rivals in the 5 ½ furlong Victoria Stakes. Sent off at 3-1, he recorded a 3 ¼-length triumph in a time of 1:04.71.
He went 4-1-0 from six starts in his rookie campaign, which led to Sovereign finalist recognition in the Champion Two-Year-Old Male category.
“It was such a great year for him,” praised Owens. “He just fought tooth and nail each race and really established himself as a top-notch sprinter.”
The Pink Lloyd will mark his 12th stakes appearance.
“We have been waiting for this one,” said Owens. “We probably could have run him in other races that were offered here, but this race was our goal all along.”
Owens and his partner, fellow trainer Tara Neigel, handle most of the groom-related work with Poulin in O T.
“Tara and I take pride in taking care of our horses. I have known this horse since he was born, and I have made it my responsibility to take care of him on a daily basis. Our groom, Ricky, does a great job. We hand this horse off to him when we take him over on race day.”
Recent works: Poulin in O T posted a trio of bullet works ahead of the Pink Lloyd. On June 21, he covered 4 furlongs in :46.40 over the main track and duplicated that time one week later.
“He does lots and lots of jogging, miles during the week, so we can keep him happy and sound. He puts a lot of energy into his actual works. His last three works are all well within his scope. He’s a very steady presence in the mornings, where he goes out and is focused and determined. We’re very happy with the last three works.”
Fast Facts: Sprint superstar Pink Lloyd won 29 of 38 starts and earned $1,884,584 in earnings under the tutelage of Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame trainer Robert Tiller. Bred in Ontario by John Carey and owned by Entourage Stable, Jr., the gelding’s first major triumph came early in 2017 when he captured the Jacques Cartier Stakes, a race he would win three more times. It would be the start of 26 career stakes wins, all at Woodbine. His perfect season of eight stakes scores garnered him Sovereign Awards as Champion Older Horse, Outstanding Sprinter and Horse of the Year. Over the course of the next four years, he earned five more Sovereigns. Following his retirement from the track, Pink Lloyd’s connections donated him to LongRun Thoroughbred Retirement Society, where he remains a popular draw with those who visit its farm in Hillsburgh, ON.
The race is part of Ontario Racing’s (TIP) Ontario Sires Stakes Program.
Wagering menu for the Pink Lloyd: Rolling Double / Exacta / 0.20 Trifecta / 0.20 Superfecta / 0.20 Pick 3 (Races 8-9-10) / 0.20 Pick 5 (Races 8-9-10-11-12) / $1 Swinger
Field for the $100,000 Pink Lloyd Stakes
Horse – Post – Jockey – Trainer
1 – Awesome Bourbon – Romero Ramsay Maragh – Abraham Katryan
2 – Paynes Spirit – Emma-Jayne Wlson – Julia Carey
3 – Souped Up – Rafael Hernandez – Ron Sadler
4 – Poulin in O T – Ryan Munger – Steve Owens
5 – Light the Lamp – Pietro Moran – Don MacRae
6 – Summer Commander – Fraser Aebly – Stuart Simon
7 – Go Kart Mozart – Eswan Flores – Robert Tiller
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