Pink Lloyd headlines Woodbine opener

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The unstoppable sprinter Pink Lloyd heads Saturday’s $100,000 Jacques Cartier Stakes, the feature on opening day of the 133-day Woodbine meet, which is scheduled to wrap up Dec. 16.

The meet highlights include the 159th running of the $1 million Queen’s Plate on June 30; the Grade 1, $800,000 Woodbine Mile on Sept. 15; and the Grade 1, $800,000 Canadian International on Oct. 13.

Saturday’s $100,000 Wando is the first 3-year-old stakes of the season, but the local road to the Queen’s Plate begins in earnest on Sunday in the $125,000 Queenston Stakes, a seven-furlong race for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds.

The Plate is opening leg of the Canadian Triple Crown. It will be followed by the Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie on July 24, and the Breeders’ Stakes here Aug. 18. Wando, in 2003, was the last Canadian Triple Crown winner.

There will be a jockey meet and greet from 12-12:30 p.m. on Saturday. The colony includes Chantal Sutherland, who hasn’t ridden full time at Woodbine since 2014. Last year’s leading jockey, Eurico Da Silva, is serving a suspension that goes from Saturday until May 5.

Pink Lloyd will put his eight-race win streak in stakes on the line in the six-furlong Jacques Cartier, which lured five others and goes as race 8 on a 10-race card.

Pink Lloyd got the winter off after capturing the Grade 2 Kennedy Road over six furlongs here Nov. 25.

Trainer Robert Tiller said he was able to use the same work schedule for Pink Lloyd as last year heading into the Jacques Cartier. However, an ice storm last weekend led to the closure of all tracks for two days, so he wasn’t able to gallop the gelding into the race as planned.

“The conditions were much better last year,” Tiller said. “We had a little more time to prepare him. He’s in good order.”

In advance of the storm, a whopping 366 horses worked on the Tapeta main track last Saturday. During the early weeks of the meet, handicappers should give an edge to winter-raced and winter-trained horses in the United States over those that remained north of the border, especially in the longer sprints and routes.

The early forecast for the weekend calls for sunny skies and temperatures that are just above seasonal.

Woodbine recently earned reaccreditation from the National Thoroughbred Racing Association Safety and Integrity Alliance. The certification standards address an extensive list of safety and integrity concerns within six broad areas: injury reporting and prevention; creating a safer racing environment; aftercare and transition of retired horses; uniform medication and testing; jockey health and welfare; and wagering security.