TORONTO, July 25, 2024 – Eight hopefuls vie for top prize in the $100,000 Pink Lloyd Stakes, a six-furlong main track race for Ontario-sired 4-year-olds and up, Sunday at Woodbine.
Reload’s Rascal, who was fourth in last year’s running, will chase his first stakes trophy in the race named for the gelding who was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2023.
A 5-year-old son of Reload-Mi’an Mar, Reload’s Rascal, bred and owned by Double R Racing, nom du course of Keith Nicholson, heads into his latest test off a 3 ½-length score in his seasonal debut at six panels over the Woodbine all-weather course, a race that was originally scheduled for the turf.
It was the second straight score for the bay gelding, who has three wins in his past five starts, where he has been the mutuel choice each time.
“He’s a very cool horse,” praised Banach, who took over the training reins of Reload’s Rascal this year. “He had nice form heading into this race and he is obviously a very nice horse. He is such a straightforward horse, so pleasant to be around. He is just a big, old ham.”
Reload’s Rascal, 5-1-0 from eight starts, launched his career in winning fashion when he posted a three-quarter length victory, at 16-1, over six furlongs at Woodbine on October 16, 2022.
He followed it up with a one-length score at the same distance and same surface five weeks later.
Reload’s Rascal, who has $200,491 in career earnings, owns a 4-1-0 record from six starts at the distance.
“You look at his past results and you see how nice he is,” said Banach, who has enjoyed a phenomenal start to the 2024 Woodbine campaign. “I had this race circled on the calendar three months ago. He had a very nice effort last time out and hopefully, he can repeat that on Sunday.
“He is a big, strong, very good-looking dude.”
Banach, whose wife, assistant trainer Erika Smilovsky, works the horse, would relish the chance to deliver Nicholson a stakes victory.
“Keith, who lives in Alberta, is a great person and he loves his horses. He messages me about four in the morning every day and lets me know how things are out there. This is the first year I am training for him. He also has this guy’s full-brother, Reload’s Rebel.
“We would love to get him his first stakes win this weekend,” continued Banach, who will also send out multiple graded stakes placed English Conqueror in Sunday’s Bowling Green Stakes (G2T) at Saratoga.
Ashley Killins is the groom of Reload’s Rascal.
Bred in Ontario in 2012, sprint superstar Pink Lloyd won 29 of 38 starts and earned $1,884,584 in earnings under the tutelage of Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame trainer Robert Tiller.
Bred by John Carey and owned by Entourage Stable, Jr., the gelding’s first major triumph came early in 2017 when he captured the Jacques Cartier Stakes, a race he would win three more times. It would be the start of 26 career stakes wins, all at Woodbine.
His perfect season of eight stakes scores garnered him Sovereign Awards as Champion Older Horse, Outstanding Sprinter and Horse of the Year. Over the course of the next four years, he earned five more Sovereigns.
Following his retirement from the track, Pink Lloyd’s connections donated him to LongRun Thoroughbred Retirement Society, where he remains a popular draw with those who visit the farm.
Post time on Sunday is 1:05 p.m. Fans can wager on all the action through HPIbet.com and bet365.com.
Field for the $100,000 Pink Lloyd Stakes (Race 8)
Horse – Post – Jockey – Trainer
1 – Rat Portage – Jason Hoyte – Sylvester Ollivierre
2 – Souped Up – Fraser Aebly – Ron Sadler
3 – Poseidon Steel – Ryan Munger – Gord Colbourne
4 – Last American Exit – Rafael Hernandez – Harold Ladouceur
5 – Mason’s Gamble – Sahin Civaci – Josie Carroll
6 – Patches O’Houlihan – Sofia Vives – Robert Tiller
7 – Reload’s Rascal – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Darwin Banach
8 – Secret Reserve – Leo Salles – Mike Mattine
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