Pink Lloyd starts season with fourth straight Jacques Cartier victory

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Pink Lloyd won the Grade 3 Jacques Cartier Stakes for the fourth year in a row on Thursday at Woodbine, so it’s probably about time to rename the race after him instead of that French explorer from 500 years ago.

Pink Lloyd ($2.50) assumed an outside stalking position through the turn in the six-furlong sprint, which was down to a four-horse field after the scratch of Dixie’s Gamble.

Circle of Friends set honest fractions before giving way to Pink Lloyd at the head of the stretch. Pink Lloyd took control inside the eighth pole before coasting home on top by two lengths, in a time of 1:09.61, which was well off his own synthetic-track record of 1:08.05.

It was the 20th career stakes score for Pink Lloyd, who was ridden by Rafael Hernandez for trainer Robert Tiller.

“He broke well,” Hernandez said. “He did his thing. He knows how to win. He can come from any part of the track. He’s one of the best. He didn’t give up. He was relaxed today. He got it done.”

Pink Lloyd, who was making his 8-year-old debut, earned $94,500 of the $143,500 purse for Encourage Stable. The gelded son of Old Forester was Canada’s champion male sprinter in each of the past three years.