Fans have been along for the thrilling ride and have witnessed the undeniable bond between Canadian sprint champion Pink Lloyd, jockey Eurico Rosa Da Silva and Hall of Fame trainer Robert Tiller—a ride of a lifetime that just continued for the endearing chestnut and his connections in the $125,000 Greenwood Stakes early Saturday afternoon at Woodbine.
“You know what? In the backstretch he said, ‘Eurico, enjoy the trip. I’m going to take care of this.’ And in the turn, he just kicked,” said Woodbine’s leading jockey of his latest winning trip aboard the 2017 Horse of the Year. “I took him a little bit outside and he said, ‘Hold on because I’m going to accelerate!'”
After settling mid-pack while his stablemate Circle of Friends and Sumarian Bell dueled through opening splits of :21.56 and :44.25, Pink Lloyd launched outside in the turn and won the six-furlong sprint going away in 1:08.98. Late closers Marten Lake and Call Me Wally chased in vain to pick up the minor spoils.
Formerly known as the Achievement Stakes, the Greenwood Stakes was originally slated for May 25, but was rescheduled when a late afternoon thunderstorm that day prompted a rain delay following post parade and subsequent cancellation.
However, the postponed running of the Greenwood Stakes was no concern to Tiller or Da Silva, who described the veteran gelding as a different horse this year who has been very relaxed.
“Deep down inside I wasn’t worried about it,” said Tiller. “I knew we had him in good order, I knew he was happy. As long as everything goes good with the gate thing and his little issues last fall, I knew he was going to run a big one. I really wasn’t concerned about the delay. He’s a smart horse.”
Fresh off a victorious season’s debut in the Grade 3 Jacques Cartier on May 4, the seven-year-old son of Old Forester was the overwhelming 1-5 favourite and returned $2.70 to win.
Pink Lloyd, who won the Achievement Stakes twice amid an 11-stakes win streak, now boasts 18 victories from 23 lifetime starts and nearly $1.4 million in purses for the Entourage Stable.
El Tormenta steps up for first stakes victory in Grade 2 Connaught Cup
Sam-Son Farm’s El Tormenta out-finished the favourites to earn his first stakes victory in Saturday’s co-featured $175,000 Connaught Cup (Grade 2) contested over the E.P. Taylor Turf Course at Woodbine.
El Tormenta raced between horses stalking the front-runners Shakhimat and Hold’emforransom through the opening fractions in the seven-furlong sprint, which were clocked in :23.29 and :44.83. As the field spread across the track and converged on the pacemakers at the top of the stretch, El Tormenta split rivals and out-finished the oncoming favourites, winning in 1:20.29 over firm turf.
Irish-bred Emmaus came up just a neck short with Curlin’s Honor three-quarters of a length back in third. Yorkton, the post time favourite who was out front early before settling into an outer stalking position, finished 4-1/2 lengths behind in fourth over Savage Battle and the early leaders. Eminent Force was scratched.
“This horse was a little rank the last couple times he was here and today he was nice and relaxed,” said winning jockey Luis Contreras. “Gail told me about him. He was fine the whole way, so by the time I asked him to run, he just gave me everything he had. I’m so glad we won the race.”
El Tormenta, who was a runner-up in his only other stakes start in the one-mile Charlie Barley at Woodbine, recorded a pair of wins on the turf last year and now adds a graded stakes victory to his resume.
“He’s been a really nice horse to have and train, but he was just so speedy last year – hard to get him to settle and he certainly did today,” said trainer Gail Cox, who also won back-to-back editions of the Connaught Cup in 2012 and 2013 with Something Extra. “I think he’s just a little more mature this year… This is a big, big step up for him.”
With the lion’s share of the purse, El Tormenta doubled his bankroll, which climbed past the $200,000 mark. The four-year-old Stormy Atlantic-Torreadora gelding has won a third of his nine races lifetime.
Sent postward at odds of 7-1, he returned $16.70 to his backers at the betting windows.
Live Thoroughbred racing continues on Sunday at Woodbine, featuring the $100,000 Bold Ruckus Stakes. First race post time is 1:05 p.m.
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