This Week in Racing: Pink Lloyd celebrates championship in style

This time two years ago, Entourage Stables’ Pink Lloyd was a 4-year-old still months away from his career debut. After winning his first three starts, the gelded son of Old Forester was beaten in his initial two attempts in stakes racing to close out his first season of racing. He has not been beaten since. Returning like a champion should, this past week proved to be a very big one for Pink Lloyd.

On Thursday, the Jockey Club of Canada announced him as the Canadian Horse of the Year for 2017, outpacing the pair of talented females, Ami's Mesa and Holy Helena, for the honor. Perfect for the season, the Robert Tiller trainee begun last season by earning his first stakes victory in the Jacques Cartier Stakes, in what would be the first of eight consecutive stakes wins. 

On Saturday, which was opening day at Woodbine, Pink Lloyd returned to the scene of the crime to do it again in the Jacques Cartier, this time in even more impressive fashion. In his 2018 debut, Pink Lloyd stretched his winning streak to nine, and he did it by way of a track record performance. Stopping the timer in a serious 1:08.05 for the six furlongs, the 6-year-old champion toted 124 pounds to victory.

With the driving victory over Extravagant Kid and Conquest Enforcer, the Ontario-bred raised his career record to 12 wins and a second from 14 career starts. More importantly, he has now won nine straight stakes races, all of which have come sprinting over the Tapeta racing surface at Woodbine. There's something to be said for knowing what you're good at, and sticking with it.

Meanwhile in the United States, easily the biggest race of the week came in West Virginia with the running of the $1.2 million Charles Town Classic, and with it came another story of a horse getting better with age. An also-ran behind Pink Lloyd in last year's Jacques Cartier, Something Awesome has suddenly put it all together at the age of seven.

Moved to the barn of Jose Corrales, the gelded son of Awesome Again has been at his best ever since the switch. He won the Grade 3 General George two starts back, and although primarily a sprinter for most of his career, Something Awesome stretched out to easily win the Harrison Johnson Memorial at nine furlongs last time. Coming in off those nice two stakes wins at Laurel, he was respected at 9-1 odds in Saturday's rich affair.

Diversify, the 2017 Jockey Club Gold Cup hero, went favored while making his first start of the year. That one set the pace, but came up completely empty by the time hit the final turn. At that point, the second choice, War Story, and Something Awesome had quickly closed in on the new leader, Afleet Willy. An exciting three-horse battled ensued as they hit the stretch, and became a two-horse struggle to the wire, as the latter finally succumbed. It looked like the battle-hardened War Story might get the money, but the 7-year-old on the outside surged to the wire in a real thriller. Fear the Cowboy came running too late for third.

Now running in by the best form of his career, and enjoying his newfound appreciation for a distance of ground, Something Awesome became racing's newest millionaire with the win -- a victory that will set him up for a go in the historic Pimlico Special next. ZATT's Star of the Week, is ... Something Awesome!

Of course, all eyes this time of year turn to the next two weeks at Churchill Downs. The 2018 Kentucky Derby is shaping up as one of the best fields the iconic race has seen in the past quarter century. Other than the unfortunate setback of McKinzie last month, it strikes me how smoothly the big names continue to sail ever closer to the first Saturday in May.

A strong case can be made for at least seven horses in the field, and they are all major winners already. Justify, Magnum Moon, Mendelssohn, Bolt d'Oro, Good Magic, Audible, and Vino Rosso each have accounted for big stakes wins, and better yet, they all appear to be coming up to the most important race in their respective careers perfectly. How exciting it must be for the connections of all these excellent horses to be less than two weeks out, and coming in exactly how you would want your own horse to be gearing up to the Derby.

Throw in the showdown between Midnight Bisou and Monomoy Girl in the Kentucky Oaks, and we have all the makings of an even more special than usual Kentucky Derby weekend here in Louisville.