Is there a regular horseplayer in Canada who hasn’t heard of the stakes-winning superhorse Pink Lloyd, the retired 10-year-old gelding who won 29 of 38 lifetime starts at Woodbine, 26 of them stakes races, 10 of which were graded? So on Saturday, when an Assiniboia Downs player noticed that #6 Told It All in race 5 at Woodbine had been competing against Pink Lloyd last year, he didn’t think twice before betting the horse even though it was the horse’s first race of the season.

What a wise and rewarding decision! Told It All paid $62.90, the longest shot in the race and the biggest payoff of the weekend. (See program page here.) It was part of the pick-5, too, that paid $20,464 for 20 cents.

But what his play illustrates is the importance of examining the kind of company horses have been racing in. And, I dare say, it’s become a lost effort. After Beyer speed figures were introduced exactly 30 years ago and Equibase pace and speed figures followed, players have tended to look mainly at numbers and not at horses.

Advertisement