Pink Lloyd enjoying crazy success

I know of a Thoroughbred who was a 2017 Horse of the Year and has now picked up 10 straight stakes wins following a dominant score Sunday. The gelding set a track record when making his 2018 debut in late April and extended his winning ways in a virtual workout last weekend.

“You just watched this horse win his tenth stakes in a row and we should really appreciate this horse because they just don’t come along,” Hall of Fame trainer Robert Tiller said after the victory. “The LeBron James of Canadian horse racing, does that fit?”

The six-year-old has been sent off at odds-on in nine straight, the best price being 3-5 and the son of Old Forester has won in wire-to-wire fashion and closed from off the pace to prove best. He is the real deal. But the chestnut, who was purchased for slightly more than $28,000 as a yearling, has raced exclusively at Woodbine and flies completely under the radar in the U.S.!

PINK LLOYD is a sublime 13-for-15 in his career and unbeaten since 2016 for Tiller. Canada’s 2017 Horse of the Year has been simply untouchable. And I would love to see him knock heads with top one-turn horses in the states.

It is fair to question the horses that Pink Lloyd has been dominating. And it’s also impossible to know if the gelding will perform as well on conventional dirt, especially against the top in his division.

But we do know two things. First, Pink Lloyd is a sensational performer. And secondly, we are aware that Canadian shippers can never be ignored and some even move forward once on dirt.

It is far from unprecedented to see horses of this type thrive on the surface switch. Last season we saw a pair of synthetic specialists based in Toronto make a splash on American soil in a huge way.

Barbara Minshall’s DREAM IT IS proved to be a fine winner in her first two on the All-Weather at Woodbine prior to trekking to Saratoga for the Schuylerville Stakes (G3).

Daughter of Shackleford proved her class and versatility in blowing her seven rivals away at The Spa, cruising home an emphatic nine-length heroine. Dream It Is posted a lifetime-topping 100 BRIS Speed figure at Saratoga.

AMI’S MESA notched a trio of graded races in succession on synthetic surfaces in the second half of 2017 and made her first ever run on the dirt in the Filly and Mare Sprint (G1) at Del Mar.

Sky Mesa filly had an impossible 14 post for her biggest test, but overcame it with a sensational performance. Josie Carroll pupil led late only to be beaten by a bob on the line, earning a career-best 102 BRIS Speed number in the process.

If the connections of Pink Lloyd need any encouragement from locally based runners succeeding on the dirt when leaving town, they need only look to 2017 to bolster their confidence level.

Here’s to hoping that we see ‘The Lebron James of Canadian Horse Racing’ competing on U.S. soil this summer and fall.

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