Pink Lloyd healed up and ready to extend streak in Overskate

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Pink Lloyd will look to record his seventh consecutive stakes win in Sunday’s $125,000 Overskate Stakes for Ontario-sired 3-year-olds and up over seven furlongs on Tapeta at Woodbine.

Pink Lloyd has won all six of his starts this year and comes into the Overskate (race 6) off of a three-quarter-length victory over Jacks Escarpment in the Kenora Stakes here Aug. 30. Trainer Robert Tiller said Pink Lloyd ran the race with three shoes and also suffered a quarter crack that forced him to miss training time.

“He tore his shoe off,” he said. “If you look at the picture, you’ll see the right front shoe missing. It came back pouring blood. He grabbed a quarter and came up with a quarter crack. We had to patch him. He had every excuse in the world to get beat. He’s had two months off. He didn’t train for the first 10 days because we were dealing with the foot. He’s healed up nicely.”

Pink Lloyd began his campaign in April and has remained at the top of his game throughout the season. Tiller said he has been pleased with the way Pink Lloyd is coming into the Overskate.

“I think we’ve done everything in our power to try to win seven stakes in a row, and I can’t remember the last horse that’s done that,” he said. “After being in here for only a month and a half, it’s very difficult to start in March and get a horse ready to win the very first stakes, and then go seven or eight months without the roof caving in somewhere.”

Also Sunday, Avie’s Mineshaft tops a field of seven Canadian-bred 2-year-old fillies in the $225,000 Princess Elizabeth (race 8).

Key Contenders

Pink Lloyd, by Old Forester

Last 3 Beyers: 94-101-98

◗ Pink Lloyd has made three of his 11 career starts at seven furlongs and won two of those, including in the Grade 3 Vigil Stakes back in July.

“Seven-eighths shouldn’t be a problem,” Tiller said. “He’s had four works. I’m quite happy with him.”

Jacks Escarpment, by Old Forester

Last 3 Beyers: 92-90-82

◗ He’s faced Pink Lloyd four times already this season, and nearly caught him in the Kenora Stakes on Aug. 30. He finished second, 4 1/4 lengths clear of River Maid, who finished third.

◗ Jacks Escarpment finished third in this race last year, with his last victory coming in the Kenora Stakes in August 2016.

Boreal Spirit, by North Light

Last 3 Beyers: 82-99-92

◗ In his last start on Tapeta, he finished second to Ikerrin Road in the Grade 3 Bold Venture Stakes on Sept. 16. He earned a career-best 99 Beyer Speed Figure.

◗ He finished third and was beaten just two lengths by Pink Lloyd in the Shepperton Stakes back in August.

Singandcryindubai, by Victor’s Cry

Last 3 Beyers: 90-78-74

◗ The 3-year-old will face older horses and will make his stakes debut after recording four wins in seven starts this season.

◗ He recorded a career-best 90 Beyer in his three-quarter-length victory over Court Savvy in a first-level allowance Oct. 8.

Princess Elizabeth Stakes

In the Princess Elizabeth Stakes, at 1 1/16 miles on Tapeta, Avie’s Mineshaft will be looking to rebound off of a fourth-place finish in the Grade 3 Mazarine Stakes on Oct. 7. She finished 8 3/4 lengths behind winner Wonder Gadot, who will run in next week’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Del Mar.

Avie’s Mineshaft is one of two horses in the Princess Elizabeth field with two-turn experience.

Other key contenders in the Princess Elizabeth include Mo Big Cat, who enters off of a seventh-place finish in the Grade 1 Natalma Stakes on Sept. 17, and recent maiden winner Clickity Clack.