Tower of Texas preps for Woodbine Mile

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Should all go well for Tower of Texas in Sunday’s Grade 2 Play the King Stakes, he likely will start in the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile on Sept. 13, trainer Roger Attfield said.

In the July 31 prep for the Play the King Stakes, Tower of Texas finished second to Stacked Deck after lacking running room in the stretch. Despite not getting up in time, Attfield said he was pleased with Tower of Texas’s effort.

“He finished well,” he said. “We shortened it back a little bit, too. It was a lead-in to the Play the King anyway. He seems to be doing fine still.”

Prior to that prep race, Tower of Texas had been unbeaten in three starts this year, including the Grade 2 King Edward Stakes over a mile on the Woodbine turf course. Ultimately, Tower of Texas could wind up at Keeneland for the Breeders’ Cup in October, but Attfield said the horse will have to prove himself at each step along the way, beginning with the Play the King Stakes.

“He’s going to have to earn his way along there,” he said. “The idea is Play the King, Woodbine Mile, and then the Breeders’ Cup, but he’s going to have to prove that he belongs.”