Entourage Stable’s Pink Lloyd, Canada’s reigning Horse of the Year, earned an unprecedented 10th straight stakes victory at Woodbine Racetrack with a dominant display in the $100,000 New Providence Stakes on Sunday afternoon.
Reunited with his regular reinsman Eurico Rosa Da Silva, Pink Lloyd followed up his track record performance in the Jacques Cartier Stakes on Opening Day of the meet with an open-length victory in Sunday’s Ontario Sired Stakes event for older horses.
“You just watched this horse win his 10th stakes in a row and we should really appreciate this horse because they just don’t come along,” said Hall of Fame trainer Robert Tiller after the thrilling victory. “The LeBron James of Canadian horse racing, does that fit? That’s what I’m saying.”
Only three rivals attempted to take on the division heavyweight in the six-furlong sprint, but were no match for the Tiller trainee, who romped away in the stretch to win by 6-1/4 lengths.
Inside leaver Marten River held an early lead with Pink Lloyd pressing outside and taking command as Lokinforpursemonee and Goodoldhockeygame stacked four-across down the backstretch. Pink Lloyd pressed on around the turn with Lokinforpursemonee taking his shot, but the fan favourite ran away from his foes with ease down the stretch to stop the clock in 1:09.60.
“Pink Lloyd is just scary the way he runs,” said Da Silva. “It was so easy at the eighth pole, he was just galloping along and I looked at the screen and he had like three or four lengths in front and he was doing it so easy. He was running so relaxed, this horse is amazing.
“Definitely I can say this is the best horse I ever rode. I’m trying to sit second and I was fighting with him to sit second and another horse started lugging out and I just went beside him and he took off from there. He said, ‘You know what, let me do my job,’ and he started running. A very special horse.”
Sent postward as the overwhelming favourite, Pink Lloyd paid $2.10 to win.
Bred in Ontario by John Carey, the consistent son of Old Forester and Gladiator Queen now boasts 13 career wins from 15 starts. His current 10-race win streak includes back-to-back editions of the Jacques Cartier and New Providence Stakes.
“He’s going to get it done, he wants to do it,” said Tiller of the six-year-old chestnut gelding’s winning attitude. “He knows the difference between the morning and the afternoon.
“Today was an easy race for him. We know it will get tougher, but the way he did it, he’s just a monster. And we’re just very lucky and blessed to have this horse,” said the humble horseman. “Let’s hope the party keeps going and if it doesn’t then we’ve had a great run at it.”
Woodbine adds Wednesday night racing to its schedule on May 16, with the exception of holiday Mondays, which will replace the Wednesday programs for those weeks. First race post time on Wednesdays will be 6:45 p.m.
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