Ed Walker has much to look forward to with Ten Bob Tony for the rest of the year and he is currently considering the options for his “legend” after his fine effort to finish fourth in the Sussex Stakes.
A 50-1 winner of the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot, the five-year-old proved that was no fluke when challenging the best of the Classic generation at Goodwood, an effort that left his handler both proud and determined to continue with the ambitious campaigning of his thriving gelding.
Having yet again displayed his ability to handle a quicker surface on the Sussex Downs, Walker is delighted to have more options available as he plots Ten Bob Tony’s possible route forward, which could include trips overseas and races like the Prix du Moulin, which Walker won with Dreamloper in 2022.
However, with the trump card of soft ground also ready to play as autumn approaches, the Lambourn handler will have a keen eye on the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes back at the scene of his finest hour on Champions Day in mid-October.
Walker said: “He’s a legend and I was thrilled with him. It proved the Queen Anne was no fluke and I’m very proud of him.
“We took a gamble on the ground, but he coped with it well and it opens up more options for us. He might be a horse we take travelling and pot hunt and bat a bit clever.
“At home you would probably have to work back from a QEII and if the ground is a bit softer it might help him get a bit closer to those top, top horses knowing he copes with the ground.
“We’d happily take on the horses from the Sussex again in France in something like a Moulin if we decide we want to go there and he’s bang there with the best of them isn’t he.”
Ten Bob Tony runs in the colours of Blackpool Football Club owner Simon Sadler with the TBT Racing moniker a familiar name against runners from Walker’s Kingsdown Stables operation.
Among Sadler’s burgeoning string with Walker is also Felicitas, who was narrowly denied in the Musidora at York earlier in the season but has not been seen since finishing down the field in the French Oaks in June.
She is likely to revert to a mile on her return to the track, with Sandown’s BetMGM Atalanta Stakes on August 29 a possible port of call.
Walker said: “We’re just taking our time with Felicitas and she was very light after France.
“Maybe something like the Atalanta could suit and we still think an awful lot of her.”