Page 18 - November 2019 Thoroughbred Highlight

Entourage......Continued from Page 16
In 2013, the Entourage Stable bought two yearlings at the CTHS sale for $30,000 each. The lly, Delight Fil, ran once. They gave her away as a riding horse after her rst race because “she had no talent,” DiGiulio Jr. said.
The other was Pink Lloyd. Lloyd was a character in the Entourage television series. They knew
they couldn’t get Pink Floyd as a name. So Pink Lloyd it was. Although DiGiulio Jr. is well known for thinking up imaginative names for horses – he’s the one who thought up
bought ve yearlings in 2018, and three in 2019. “We’re looking to possibly claim. We have claimed in the past,” said the major shareholder. The horses run in his familiar blue-and-yellow colours.
They have had a party conjuring up names for their horses since they became Entourage.
Pink Lloyd’s younger half-brother, a $65,000 purchase after Pinkie had hit his stride, was named Ari Gold Speedwagon, after the rock group REO Speedwagon from the 1970s (Remember “Keep on Loving You” and “Can’t Fight This Feeling?”) Ari Gold
names like Indian Apple Is Goodoldhockeygame, Sweater Weather, and Oh Canada – Pink Lloyd was Longo’s idea.
He didn’t race until he was a 4-year-old. “We had to have a lot of patience with him,” DiGiulio Jr. said. They had other horses in the stable, but it was frustrating for the group especially because Pinkie,
as he is called, had been working well in the mornings, but never got a chance to show it, plagued by a series of injuries.
“It had come to the point that, money-wise, so far as what was left in the stable, he needed to start running soon,” DiGiulio Jr. said. “It wasn’t desperate or anything. But
he started running at a good time.”
Did he ever. He eventually ran up a string of 11 consecutive victories in stakes races at Woodbine with his ferocious desire
The amazing Pink Lloyd with Jockey Eurico Rosa da Silva
was the lovable but abrasive agent in the television show. The name was a clever mix of the two group loves.
Another one? Last Sunday, they raced a maiden who was named after the hero of the television show, Vincent Chase. The 2-year-old colt, called Chasing Vinny, a son of Souper Speedy, nished fourth in his rst start.
Still to race is a 2-year-old they named after Sloan, yet another Entourage character. His name? Rolling Sloan.
“We just want to have fun with it and tie it into Entourage,” DiGiulio said.
At the centre of their success is trainer Tiller, who DiGiulio Sr. rst hired about 35 years ago. DiGiulio Jr. hasn’t wavered in the choice since. “It’s a huge factor,”
he said. “For anyone getting into it, it’s important to get someone who obviously has a track record of success [Tiller is a now member of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall
to run past anything ahead of him. He’s running on Saturday in the Kennedy Road Stakes at Woodbine, his rst start in a couple of months. “He’s a gift from God,” enthused trainer Bob Tiller. “That’s what I think.” Pink Lloyd put a spring in everybody’s step.
“It was a relief to see him nally run,” DiGiulio Jr. said of that rst start three years ago. “It was very gratifying. Bob kept saying: ‘This horse can run! This horse can run!’ I’d relay that to the partners, but after a while I thought they were thinking it’s like the boy who cried wolf. “
That rst time he ran, DiGiulio Jr. doesn’t think he ever looked forward so much to see a horse run for the rst time as Pink Lloyd, who didn’t disappoint. He remembers standing beside Longo, and after their steed crossed the wire in a crisp 1:09 for six furlongs to break his maiden, DiGiulio Jr. said in complete understatement: “He’s a nice horse.” His brilliant future was still ahead of him.
Now the group has been reinvesting Pink Lloyd’s substantial earnings back into the business, having
of Fame), someone you can get along with, someone who is honest. Some people may not want to hear the truth, but I think it’s very important. You get bad news in this business. You have to be prepared for that.
“Bob will always tell you the truth,” DiGiulio Jr. said. “He won’t sugarcoat things or hide things from you. I think that’s what you look for in a trainer. You have to know what you’re dealing with. He’s been around for a long, long time, so he’s seen it all.”
DiGiulio Sr. met Tiller through a friend who used Tiller as a trainer. “It’s something you need to do your homework on before you get involved as an owner,” said Jr.
The whole experience for Entourage has become a rewarding social experience. “It’s great to share it with somebody,” DiGiulio Jr. said. “These guys, the more they are in it, the more they get into it and the more they get interested in doing their research.”
Obviously it’s working. The Entourage group has been around for six years. And counting.
Thoroughbred Highlight - Page 18 - November 2019