“Eclipse first, the rest, nowhere.”
That phrase entered the vernacular in Britain back in the late 1700s when the remarkable Thoroughbred ECLIPSE conquered all comers through an 18-race career which included multiple-heat races, heavy weight; he once won under 168 pounds.
As incredible as he was on the racetrack, Eclipse went on to be an influential sire and he appears in virtually every racehorse’s bloodlines today.
Yes, the great Canadian sprinter Pink Lloyd, who along with Eclipse will be honoured with a stakes race at Woodbine on June 4, traces back to the great horse.
The Eclipse Stakes at Woodbine was inaugurated in 1956 but was run at Greenwood Racetrack until it moved to Woodbine in 1967. The race has been won by a number of great Canadian horses including He’s a Smoothie, Overskate, Frost King and Izvestia.
This year’s field of 11 pits last year’s winner ARTIE’S STORM, an Ontario-bred by the late We Miss Artie, against invader WOLFIE’S DYNAGHOST, a son of Ghostzapper, who is undefeated in three races on synthetic dirt.
Artie’s Storm won the 2022 Eclipse in his first start of the year for Paul Buttigieg’s Buttigieg Training Centre and jockey David Moran. The stretch-running five-year-old placed in three other graded stakes races throughout last season.
Wolfie’s Dynaghost, owned and bred by Woodslane Farm in Kentucky, is a two-time stakes winner on turf and Tapeta. In January he won a handicap at Gulfstream for his new trainer Jonathan Thomas and doubled up in the Kentucky Cup Classic at Turfway Park, both events on Tapeta. He was back on turf for the Grade 1 Turf Classic on May 6 at Churchill Downs but faded to sixth.
Top US jockey John Velazquez will be in town to ride Wolfie on Sunday. See the field listed below.
The first Pink Lloyd Stakes, previously the Ontario Jockey Club Stakes, has lured a big field of Ontario-sired sprinters including Garden Stakes winner CANDY OVERLOAD and the very quick ROCKCREST, who defeated the 2022 Champion Sprinter Filo di Arianna (Brz) in his Woodbine return on April 29.
ECLIPSE STAKES FIELD
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
1 – Avoman – Justin Stein – John Charalambous
2 – War Bomber (IRE) – Sahin Civaci – Norm McKnight
3 – Wolfie’s Dynaghost – John Velazquez – Jonathan Thomas
4 – Tyson – Patrick Husbands – Josie Carroll
5 – Artie’s Storm – David Moran – Paul Buttigieg
6 – Bringer of Rain – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Barbara Minshall
7 – Treason – Kazushi Kimura – Josie Carroll
8 – Conglomerate – Ryan Munger – Martin Drexler
9 – Luckman – Luis Contreras – Vito Armata
10 – Carrothers – Declan Carroll – Martin Drexler
11 – Rondure – Rafael Hernandez – Katerina Vassilieva
PINK LLOYD FIELD
ost – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
1 – Reload’s Rascal – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Michelle Love
2 – Last American Exit (S) – Jose Campos – Harold Ladouceur
3 – Mason’s Gamble – Patrick Husbands – Josie Carroll
4 – Bossy Holiday – Luis Contreras – Josie Carroll
5 – Miss Speedy – Kazushi Kimura – Mark Casse
6 – Poseidon Steel – Ryan Munger – Gordon Colbourne
7 – Commander Joe – Eswan Flores – John Ross
8 – Secret Reserve – Rafael Hernandez – Mike Mattine
9 – Rockcrest – Keveh Nicholls – Nigel Burke
10 – Dun Drum – Declan Carroll – Ian Black
11 – Maakwa – Justin Stein – Shana Lopez
12 – Forester’s Fortune – Daisuke Fukumoto – Rodney Barrow
13 – Candy Overload – Sahin Civaci – Mark Casse
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