TORONTO, July 24, 2025 – Its Time to Shine and Junior Hot Shot, both 4-year-old sons of Souper Speedy and both trained by John Ross, will take on eight rivals in the $100,000 Pink Lloyd Stakes, Sunday at Woodbine. Off to a strong start in 2025, Ross, a multiple graded stakes winning conditioner with over 600 career wins, chases his 39th career stakes victory in the Pink Lloyd, a six-furlong main track race for Ontario-sired 4-year-olds and up. Multiple stakes winner Junior Hot Shot, out of the Bold Executive mare Executive Dreamer, has constructed a 6-3-1 ($299,332 in purse earnings) mark from 13 starts. Junior Hot Shot and jockey Eswan Flores winning Race 8 on June 28, 2025 at Woodbine (Michael Burns Photo) Sunday’s affair will be the eighth career stakes engagement for the T and T Racing Team colt, one that Ross had hoped to purchase himself at the 2022 CTHS Canadian Premier Yearling Sale. “It was a bonus for me when (breeder) Dr. Brian Van Arem chose to give me the horse,” said Ross, of the dark bay, who sold for $55,000 (CDN). “Originally, as a 2-year-old, (former jockey and trainer) Francine Villeneuve had him. Things happened where she decided to become a jockey agent and Brian decided to send the horse over to me. “I loved this horse. I spotted him right away at the sale, but he just kept going up too high. His conformation is outstanding. He had a presence about him. He had a nice chest, nice bone, he was lined up nice in front, with a beautiful foot to hold that big body he’s got. So, in layman’s terms, when all those things come together that I like in a horse – he also had a nice angle on his back end – I really wanted to buy him. Add in that he is sired by Souper Speedy, who has been a great Ontario sire, and you have a very nice horse.” That is exactly what Junior Hot Shot has been for his connections. His successes include victories in the 2024 Elgin Stakes and Lake Erie Stakes, and runner-up efforts in that year’s Lake Huron and Lake Ontario. He made a winning debut on October 1, 2023, and was third next time out in the Frost King Stakes. “You have the horses might be a little tired for a day or two after they race, but this guy, he has got some toughness inside of him,” said Ross in a prior interview. Steve Oneil Mclarty is the groom. Its Time to Shine, a son of Souper Speedy out of the Eddington mare, champion Platinum Steel, brings a 4-3-2 mark ($186,875 in purse earnings) from 15 starts into his second lifetime stakes engagement. The bay debuted on May 12, 2024, at Woodbine, and finished second, a head back of the winner, in a 6 ½-furlong main track race. He broke his maiden in his fourth start, on July 28 of that year, at the same distance and over the same surface. Third in last year’s running of the Lake Erie Stakes, the colt won three consecutive races from December 15, 2024, to May 18, 2025. “I own half of him in partnership with Rijack Farm and Jim Aston,” noted Ross. “This horse had all the boxes I like to check off in any young horse. He’s been a very nice Ontario-sired horse for me. We’ve always liked him a lot. “Just very consistent,” Ross continued. “You look over the last five starts and he’s put together three wins and five in-the-money finishes. And he’s doing great coming into the race.” In his latest race, a six-furlong test over the Woodbine main track on June 29, Its Time to Shine finished second to Junior Hot Shot. “That was nice. I love both of them, so it was great to see them battle it out for the win. I don’t like to race my horses together in a stakes race, but it is the perfect race for them.” The two worked together on July 13, covering four furlongs in :47.20 on the Woodbine main track. “They galloped out in a minute and change, and I was very pleased with that. They came back great. I did a three-eighths breeze (:36.60) with them a few days ago (July 20), just to stretch their legs out, and I’m very happy with the way they are going towards the race.” Its Time to Shine and jockey Ryan Munger winning Race 6 on May 4, 2025 at Woodbine (Michael Burns Photo) Bred by Ericka Rusnak, Its Time to Shine was a $40,000 (CDN) purchase at the 2022 Canadian Premier Yearling Sale. Errol Marriott is the groom. Bred in Ontario in 2012, sprint superstar Pink Lloyd won 29 of 38 starts and earned $1,884,584 in earnings under the tutelage of Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame trainer Robert Tiller. Bred by John Carey and owned by Entourage Stable, Jr., the gelding’s first major triumph came early in 2017 when he captured the Jacques Cartier Stakes, a race he would win three more times. It would be the start of 26 career stakes wins, all at Woodbine. His perfect season of eight stakes scores garnered him Sovereign Awards as Champion Older Horse, Outstanding Sprinter and Horse of the Year. Over the course of the next four years, he earned five more Sovereigns. Following his retirement from the track, Pink Lloyd’s connections donated him to LongRun Thoroughbred Retirement Society, where he remains a popular draw with those who visit the farm. First post for Sunday is 1:05 p.m. The wagering menu for the Pink Lloyd includes Rolling Double, Exacta, 0.20 Trifecta, 0.20 Superfecta, and $1 Swinger. Field for the $100,000 Pink Lloyd Stakes – Race 9 Horse – Post – Jockey – Trainer 1 – Poseidon Steel – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Gord Colbourne 2 – Hunt Master – Jeffrey Alderson – David Borsk 3 – Light the Lamp – Pietro Moran – Don MacRae 4 – Its Time to Shine – Jose Campos – John Ross 5 – Junior Hot Shot – Rafael Hernandez – John Ross 6 – Last American Exit – Fraser Aebly – Harold Ladouceur 7 – Maakwa – Jalon Samuel – Shana Lopez 8 – Perfect Crime (S) – Rico Walcott – Patrick Dixon 9 – No More Options – Ryan Munger – Zeljko Krcmar 10 – One True Gentleman – Sofia Vives – Steve Flint Chris Lomon, Woodbine Share This:Share