Pink Lloyd Wins Fourth Straight Jacques Cartier Stakes

Jockey Rafael Hernandez may have been a bit nervous after he was handed the reins to three-time Jacques Cartier Stakes (G3) winner Pink Lloyd, but the rider understood that winning a fourth edition of the race in consecutive seasons wouldn't require his skills as much as it required his presence.

"He's an old horse and does everything by himself. He just needs somebody on him to make the race official," Hernandez said in the week leading up to the race. "He's so good, he doesn't need anybody on his back."

Pink Lloyd landed that record fourth Jacques Cartier in his June 25 season debut at Woodbine, proving he still knows how to find the winner's circle, and the CA$143,5000 (US$105,221) race brought his earnings to US$1,395,747. The 8-year-old Old Forester gelding has won 23 of his 29 starts, including 20 black-type victories.

Only three others lined up in the gate with the 1-9 favorite after the scratch of Dixie's Gamble. Pink Lloyd broke from the outside post and settled behind Circle of Friends and Not So Quiet as a quarter-mile went in :22.23. Hernandez moved Pink Lloyd closer to the leader as a half-mile went in :44.53, and turning for home, the veteran six-furlong specialist knew what to do.

As Malibu Secret made a move from fourth along the rail, Hernandez shook the reins and showed Pink Lloyd the whip. Pink Lloyd responded and easily took over the lead, galloping home two lengths in front in 1:09.61 for six furlongs on the synthetic track.

"He broke well, he did his thing," Hernandez said. "He's older, he knows how to win. He can come from anywhere, he just does his thing. He showed up today. He's one of the best, he does his job. He don't give up, never."

Malibu Secret finished a half-length in front of Not So Quiet to earn place honors as Circle of Friends fell back to fourth.

Trained by Robert Tiller for Entourage Stable, Pink Lloyd has raced exclusively at Woodbine and was ridden primarily by Eurico Rosa da Silva prior to the jockey's retirement at the end of 2019. Hernandez rode the horse one other time—when the pair landed the 2018 Jacques Cartier in a track-record time of 1:08.05.

"This is one of the greatest sprinters that's ever raced in Canada, and I think his record speaks for itself," Tiller said of the six-time Sovereign Award winner, who was named Canada's Horse of the Year in 2017. "He really has a lot of heart, a lot of desire. He wants to do it, he loves winning, and I don't know if there will ever be another one like him—not for me, that's for sure.

"A lot of hard work at the barn, there's a lot of details that go along with him. But when you're standing here like this, it all works out. He's such a champion, such a sweetheart, and I love him dearly."

In May, Pink Lloyd, who was bred in Ontario by John Carey, was voted Canada's top male sprinter for a third consecutive year and was awarded his second Sovereign Award as Canada's champion older male. He was 6-for-7 while racing exclusively at the stakes level in 2019. Pink Lloyd won 11 consecutive stakes races between April 15, 2017, and June 3, 2018.