TORONTO, May 6 – Pink Lloyd, with Eurico Rosa da Silva up, turned in another excellent effort, this time in Saturday’s $125,000 New Providence Stakes, at Woodbine. Trained by Robert Tiller for Entourage Stable, the chestnut Old Forester gelding lived up to his billing as the overwhelming 2-5 favourite in the six-furlong Tapeta sprint for Ontario-sired horses, three-years-old and upward. Pink Lloyd came into the New Providence off a strong performance in the Jacques Cartier Stakes on April 15 at the Toronto oval. Today, he was even better. Da Silva settled Pink Lloyd mid-pack in the field of eight as Phil in the Blank and Boreal Spirit tussled through brisk opening splits of :21.93 and :43.94. The field converged on the pacesetters on the turn for home as da Silva roused Pink Lloyd for the stretch run, while second choice on the toteboard Ted W geared up to the outside. Pink Lloyd proved to be too much for his New Providence foes, widening his advantage down the lane, with da Silva emphatically pointing at his charge in the final strides. Ted W was second with Sweet Grass Creek headed Boreal Spirit for show honours. Pink Lloyd covered six furlongs in 1:08.59. Tiller had an appropriate way to describe his talented sprinter. "He’s really turning into a rock star,” quipped the Hall of Fame conditioner. “This race was better than his last race. He’s a good horse. Up to 7/8ths, he might beat anybody.” Da Silva was full of praise after the Jacques Cartier, but agreed Pink Lloyd’s New Providence encore deserved even better reviews. "He ran wonderfully,” said Woodbine’s leading rider. “I was very lucky I had a good pace to run at. I needed to stay outside because I had a horse outside of me (Ted W) – I just didn’t want to give any chance to. He was just so relaxed. I couldn’t believe how he exploded when I turned him loose in the turn. He was more focused today. Bob has done a great job with this horse. He’s not an easy horse to deal with in the morning.” In the afternoons, however, Pink Lloyd is a headlining act. “This is a fairytale story,” said Tiller. “It really is. This guy had a lot of issues as a two-year-old. He had his issues as a yearling being broken. He’s come a long way. We waited and waited and waited. I knew from day one he could run and he’s a wonderful animal.” Pink Lloyd, bred in Ontario by John Carey, banked $75,000 in victory while improving his record to 5-1-0 from 7 starts. He paid $2.90, $2.20 and $2.10, combining with Ted W ($3.80, $3.10) for a $10.30 (5-6) exactor. A 5-6-2 triactor (Sweet Grass Creek, $4 to show) was worth $51.10, while a $1 Superfecta [5-6-3-2 (Boreal Spirit)] came back $130.75. Share This:Share
