Why Canada's champ, Pink Lloyd, won't try Breeders' Cup

Trainer Robert Tiller jokes that barring a fan-driven GoFundMe to cover costs of nomination, entry and travel, his Canadian Horse of the Year Pink Lloyd won’t be seen this year at the Breeders’ Cup — or anywhere in America.

“He keeps winning here,” Tiller said of Woodbine. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

That’s not the only reason connections plan to keep the winner of 12 of his last 13 races — all stakes — competing at his home track. For starters, “We’re not worried about what other people say,” Tiller added.

So Pink Lloyd will continue competing in Woodbine’s listed, black type and sometimes graded stakes sprints over the synthetic surface as racing fans clamor for him to face other top horses in America.

Tiller said Pink Lloyd also resides in a specially built stall with padding that reaches nearly to the ceiling. The gelding, a 6-year-old by Old Forester, likes to kick.

Also, Pink Lloyd typically trains late, just before the track closes when few if any other horses are on the track with him. Tiller doesn’t expect to get that treatment elsewhere.

And, finally, his owners with Entourage Stable live in Toronto, where Woodbine’s located, and enjoy his races in person.

“I’d love to bring him down to New York one day,” Tiller said. “I don’t think that’s impossible. The problem is, there’s so many races here for him, and he’s following that same schedule.”

Pink Lloyd registered career win No. 15 last Sunday in Woodbine’s Grade 3 Vigil Stakes, which followed his only defeat in 12 previous starts. Tiller said the horse came out of his race three back with a bit of a fever, which may have contributed to a dull performance in the July 8 Shepperton Stakes.

Based on last year’s slate of races, it appears Pink Lloyd has three anticipated starts left in 2018.

“There’s no question that there’s a lot of pressure,” Tiller said. “Thank God I’m 68 years old and I’ve been doing this for 40-something years and I’ve probably won 120 stakes. That helps, and my hair is very gray, just like Bob Baffert’s.

“If 20, 25 years ago I had this horse, I might have been an alcoholic or something.”

Tiller knew from the day he received Pink Lloyd that he had a strong runner, one who wanted to go at other horses in the mornings and always worked fast. But Pink Lloyd didn’t debut until August of his 4-year-old season. Tiller said that each time he trained the horse up to the race, another issue appeared, everything from shin to foot issues.

That late start, the trainer thinks, could be contributing to Pink Lloyd’s longevity.

“That’s exactly what’s happening so far,” Tiller said. “I dreaded stopping on him last winter because we’d have to start all over again, but he’s come back as good or better than ever. He broke a track record his first start.”

He gets the questions often about shipping out, or moving up in class. For now, it’s not in the plans.

“It’s a bad business decision,” Tiller said of the Breeders’ Cup. “It doesn’t make sense. He’s earned Canadian well over $1 million the hard way — by just winning and winning and winning. He’s a wonderful horse. We love him dearly.”