Pink Lloyd Goes After Second Straight Bold Venture

Multiple stakes winner and seven-time Sovereign Award recipient Pink Lloyd  looks to add to his illustrious career with a win in the Sept. 25 CA$150,000 Bold Venture Stakes (G3) at Woodbine.

Owned by Entourage Stable and trained by Hall of Fame conditioner Robert Tiller, 9-year-old Pink Lloyd, whose huge hardware haul includes Canada's 2017 Horse of the Year honors, will take on five rivals in the 6 1/2-furlong main track Bold Venture.

The chestnut son of top sire Old Forester   comes into the race off back-to-back runner-up performances in the Jacques Cartier (G3) and Vigil (G3), contested on June 20 and Aug. 1, respectively. He will be ridden by Rafael Hernandez from post 4. Pink Lloyd was victorious in the Bold Venture last year.

"He's like me, he's getting old," quipped the 71-year-old Tiller, who will also send out Reconfigure . "He was tons the best in his last race, and he should have won it easily. He was in tight—that's the kind of luck I've had lately with three or four of my horses—and grabbed a couple of times. If you watch the replay, you'll see how much the best he was."

The gelding, who sports a record of 26-3-2 from 35 starts, is also one of the most decorated Thoroughbreds to have ever raced at Woodbine.

His Sovereign trophy case also includes four consecutive (2017-20) champion male sprinter trophies in Canada and a pair of champion older male titles in 2017 and 2019. 

Add in four straight scores in the Vigil Stakes and Jacques Cartier Stakes, along with three triumphs in both the Shepperton and OLG Kenora Stakes Presented by HBPA of Ontario, and the veteran campaigner, bred in Ontario by John Carey, ranks as one of Canada's all-time great equine stars. 

"They're not supposed to be running at the age of 9 with the best horses in the country, sprinting against younger horses," stated Tiller. "But he is. We're taking another shot at it. We've had two seconds in two starts this year. We're looking forward to running him and we'll see how he runs. Any race could be his last race, there's no question about that. But he's doing really well."

 According to Tiller, it's all system's go for Pink Lloyd ahead of his latest engagement.

"He still acts like a 4- or 5-year-old. I'm really pleased with him. We'll see what happens. If we get one more stakes with him—he's won so many of them— that would be amazing. Frank (Di Giulio), one of my great owners and great friends, said to me that we really wanted to win that race last time out. It didn't happen because of traffic problems, but if we could win one more with him, just to prove how great this horse is ... if that was meant to be that would be amazing. But the most important thing is that we'll always do what's right for him. We love him. He's one of the greatest horses in the last 50 years." 

"I think we're going to run really, really, really big. He doesn't know he's 9. He's happy, very happy. We've pointed him for this race, so let's hope for the best, and that he runs his race."

Second choice at 2-1 is Lucky Curlin , a 4-year-old gelding by Curlin  . Trained by Mark Casse and ridden by Antonio Gallardo, the twice stakes-placed runner of last year, one graded, will break from post 5. 

Magical Man , Lookin to Strike , and Cash Dividend  round out the field.

 Also on tap Saturday is the running of the CA$125,000 Duchess Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at seven furlongs, led by 5-2 favorite Miss Speedy  (by Souper Speedy), trained by Casse.

Entries: Bold Venture S. (G3)

Woodbine, Saturday, September 25, 2021, Race 9

• Grade III
• 6 1/2f
• All Weather Track
• $150,000
• 3 yo's & up
• 5:34 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Magical Man (ON)	Luis Contreras	122	Gail Hughes	20/1
2	2Lookin to Strike (KY)	Emma-Jayne Wilson	122	Mark E. Casse	12/1
3	3Cash Dividend (KY)	Kazushi Kimura	123	Denyse McClachrie	5/1
4	4Pink Lloyd (ON)	Rafael Manuel Hernandez	122	Robert P. Tiller	4/5
5	5Lucky Curlin (KY)	Antonio A. Gallardo	123	Mark E. Casse	2/1
6	6Reconfigure (KY)	Patrick Husbands	122	Robert P. Tiller	15/1

Entries: Duchess S.

Woodbine, Saturday, September 25, 2021, Race 7

• STK
• 7f
• All Weather Track
• $125,000
• 3 yo Fillies
• 4:30 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Lady War Machine (KY)	Patrick Husbands	121	Josie Carroll	2/1
2	2Jilli Marie (ON)	Steven Ronald Bahen	119	Katerina Vassilieva	20/1
3	3Hazelbrook (KY)	Jason Hoyte	120	Lorne Richards	8/1
4	4Lorena (ON)	Gary Boulanger	122	Stuart C. Simon	6/1
5	5Souper Munnings (KY)	Kazushi Kimura	120	Mark E. Casse	10/1
6	6Miss Speedy (ON)	Rafael Manuel Hernandez	119	Mark E. Casse	5/2
7	7Salty as Can Be (KY)	Emma-Jayne Wilson	120	Mark E. Casse	12/1
8	8Aug Lutes (KY)	Antonio A. Gallardo	120	Michael J. Trombetta	8/1
9	9Bellissime (IRE)	David Moran	120	Brendan P. Walsh	20/1
10	10Sweet Souper Sweet (FL)	Luis Contreras	119	Michael J. Trombetta	20/1