From Maximum to Minimum: Racing runs in the Pohdi Pohdi family

TORONTO, April 28, 2026 – Minimum Forty, trained by Robert Tiller, sped to victory on opening day at Woodbine, April 18, giving fans a taste of what her connections believe will be a successful 2026 season.

The filly won race three on Saturday’s card with jockey Daisuke Fukumoto aboard for the nearly five-length score as the favourite in the $50,000 Allowance Optional Claiming race.

“She won that big purse, a wonderful purse, on Saturday,” said Tiller, who has won nearly 2,200 races in his career. “She never raced until she was late in her 3-year-old year, unfortunately.”

The filly, out of Souper Speedy, has only had two starts but remains unbeaten, breaking her maiden in November 2025 by over five lengths for owners 3 Sons Racing Stable Ltd.

“We’re obviously pleased and we’ll see what happens now,” Tiller reflected. “Racing is going to get tougher for her. Every time you win, the competition gets tougher.”

The 4-year-old overcame an injury in the 2025 racing season, which delayed the start of her career.

Still, Tiller has high hopes for her.

“We’re hoping that she’s of stakes quality,” he said.

Minimum Forty is a full-sister to Woodbine’s 2025 winningest horse, 5-year-old Maximum Fifty, owned by Frank Di Giulio, Jr.

Maximum Fifty won six of her seven starts in the 2025 season and has won 10 of her 18 career starts.

This season, Tiller intends to move her out of claiming races and has her working toward the Grade 3 Whimsical Stakes in early May, after deciding not to run her on Woodbine’s opening weekend.

“I had quite a discussion with Mr. Di Giulio, who owns her now,” said Tiller. “But we would have had to run her for $50,000 claiming. And she’s ready to run and I told him we’ve got to run her for $50,000 and I can’t guarantee you won’t lose her. I really didn’t want to lose her.”

Maximum Fifty and Minimum Forty share their sire and dam, two-time Black Type winner, Pohdi Pohdi.

“They’re runners, just like the mother,” said Tiller. “They run. They try.”

The siblings are both front-running types, but Tiller has found one key difference.

“Maximum Fifty likes to get to the front and maybe open up and hold on to it,” said Tiller. “She doesn’t always have a second gear.”

“Minimum Forty, what I like about her is she’ll relax in a race,” he said. “She’s got a second gear. Most horses don’t have a second gear.”

Now, with her first win of the 2026 racing season under her belt, fans may be asking, what’s next for Minimum Forty?

“In this business they don’t want to know what you did today or yesterday. They want to know what you’re going to do tomorrow, unfortunately,” said Tiller.

“I try to be very cautious as to how good they are. Once she starts hooking up better horses, we’re going to find out what she can do.”

Tiller, a long time trainer who has trained multiple graded stakes winners, including eight-time Sovereign Award winner Pink Lloyd and three-time Sovereign Award winner Patches O’Houlihan, is buoyed by Minimum Forty’s potential.

“I’m not going to run Minimum Forty for $50,000 Claimers, we’re not going to do that,” he said. “We might be dumb but we’re not stupid.”

Anna Jeffs, for Woodbine