ETOBICOKE, Ontario – As the 2019 Woodbine meet heads into its final week, focus will soon turn towards voting for the year-end Sovereign Awards. This year’s vote for Canadian Horse of the Year could go a few different directions, with three horses likely to take most of the consideration. The first horse that could spring to mind for voters is Pink Lloyd, who capped an undefeated season with a win in the Grade 2 Kennedy Road Stakes on Nov. 23. Pink Lloyd recorded six stakes wins this season, with graded stakes victories in the Grade 3 Jacques Cartier Stakes, the Grade 3 Vigil Stakes, and the Grade 2 Kennedy Road Stakes. Pink Lloyd did race seven times this season, but was declared a non-starter after crossing the finish line fourth in the Grade 3 Bold Venture Stakes on Sept. 14. His 6-for-6 record brings his career mark to 22 wins from 27 starts. “I really believe he can be the Horse of the Year,” trainer Robert Tiller said. “I’ll be disappointed if he isn’t. As far as I’m concerned, he’s the greatest sprinter that I’ve seen in my lifetime.” Pink Lloyd’s main competition could come from Starship Jubilee and El Tormenta, as both horses recorded local Grade 1 wins this season. Starship Jubilee won three stakes, two of which came in graded events. She began her 2019 campaign with a win in the Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf at Gulfstream Park in January before returning north to run second in the Grade 2 Nassau Stakes and Grade 2 Dance Smartly Stakes at Woodbine. She then traveled to Saratoga for a third-place run in the Grade 2 Ballston Spa Stakes, which set her up for back-to-back wins in the Grade 2 Canadian Stakes and Grade 1 E.P. Taylor Stakes at Woodbine. She capped her 2019 campaign with a runner-up finish in the Grade 3 Cardinal Handicap at Churchill Downs on Nov. 28. El Tormenta won two of his seven starts this year, with victories in the Grade 2 Connaught Cup and the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile. He ran in three Grade 1 races this season, finishing fourth in the Grade 1 Highlander Stakes and sixth in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita. All three horses figure to earn Canadian championship honors in their respective divisions, and it’s shaping up to be one of the more intriguing Canadian Horse of the Year races in recent years. McKnight headed to Oaklawn Norm McKnight has surged to the top of the Woodbine trainer standings in recent weeks, and is closing in on his third consecutive Woodbine title. McKnight recorded five wins on Sunday to bring his seasonal tally to 99. Heading into Wednesday’s card, he leads Mark Casse by nine wins. After the meet is over, McKnight will send his stable to Hot Springs, Ark., where he will run at Oaklawn Park for the third winter in a row. McKnight recorded 16 wins from 80 starts in his first winter at Oaklawn in 2018, and followed that up with 28 wins from 107 starts this year, good for fourth in the Oaklawn standings. McKnight said he expects his stable to experience significant turnover this winter. “They’re always very active claiming down there, so I would expect we’ll lose a bunch and we’ll claim a bunch,” he said. “Hopefully, we have some new faces for Woodbine next year.” With McKnight likely to capture the Woodbine title, he said he has been satisfied with his win total at the meet this season, but noted his purse earnings are down due to the quality of the horses in his stable. “We lack in purse money because of the caliber of horses we have,” he said. “We were running the cheaper end horses so its hard to grind out a dollar and make a profit.” The Oaklawn meet is set to begin on Jan. 24. McKnight said he expected to figure out which horses to send to Hot Springs once the Woodbine meet wraps up this Sunday. “I think there’s two or three going from Kentucky on Tuesday,” he said. “Then we’ll start filtering them out of here as we figure out what can go and line up then.”