After sharp return, Pleasure's Gold tries to keep Ballade Stakes in the family

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Tino Attard has been living in the shadow of his son, the future Hall of Famer Kevin, but he’s had a successful career in his own right, training the likes of Milwaukee Brew and Canadian champion Kirby’s Song.

Tino Attard runs Pleasure’s Gold on Saturday at Woodbine in the $100,000 Ballade Stakes, a six-furlong Ontario-sired sprint that he won in 2021 with her half-sister, Golden Vision.

Pleasure’s Gold took the restricted Rondeau Bay Stakes on the Prince of Wales Stakes undercard over Fort Erie’s main track in September, the highlight of her 3-year-old campaign. When returning from a six-month absence here May 19, she ran lights-out in a 6 1/2-furlong Ontario-sired allowance, scoring by 7 1/4 lengths with an 85 Beyer Speed Figure under Rafael Hernandez.

“We were very happy with the last race,” Attard said. “We’ve been very lucky to have this horse in our barn. Every start, she goes out and tries. It doesn’t matter the surface or the distance, she gives everything she has.”

Attard thinks highly of Pleasure’s Gold, a homebred owned by Gordon and Elizabeth Lickrish.

“She loves her job, and you can see that in the way she works and the way she races,” Attard said. “We hope she has another big effort coming on Saturday.”

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The other protagonists in the 10-horse field are Artie’s Princess, Miss Speedy, and Ol’ Blondie.

Artie’s Princess was Canada’s champion female sprinter in 2020. The 6-year-old has run hot and cold since taking last year’s Ballade with an 89 Beyer. This will be her first start since a distant sixth in the Grade 3 Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf on Jan. 28 at Gulfstream Park.

Saffie Joseph Jr. trains Artie’s Princess, the 124-pound highweight, who is going back on Lasix and being reunited with jockey Patrick Husbands.

Miss Speedy captured the 2021 Duchess Stakes and then missed a year before returning to action last fall. She was second to her favored stablemate, Our Flash Drive, two back in the Grade 3 Whimsical under Sahin Civaci, who rides her Saturday. Most recently, she was a flat fifth against Ontario-sired males in the Pink Lloyd Stakes.

“She went through a sale this year and Gary Barber bought out” his partners, trainer Mark Casse said. “She kind of fools you. She trains like a really good horse. She’s run well, but you always feel like there’s more there.”

Ol’ Blondie, a 5-year-old trained by Paul Buttigieg, has never been better. Since ending up fifth in her season opener, she has won a first-level allowance with an 85 Beyer and a second-level allowance with an 86 Beyer, races that both had a claiming option.

Emma-Jayne Wilson, who won four races last Saturday, retains the mount on Ol’ Blondie.

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