Tower of Texas shines in King Edward victory

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Tower of Texas ($9.30) made quite a splash in his turf debut Sunday at Woodbine, winning the Grade 2 King Edward Stakes with an impressive turn of foot under Eurico Da Silva.

Tower of Texas was forwardly placed early before dropping back to sixth on the turn as the favored Excaper tracked Stacked Deck through quick fractions in the one-mile event. Tower of Texas commenced an inside rally entering the stretch and hit the front at the eighth pole before drawing clear for a 2 3/4-length win over the 9-1 shot Platinum Glory. Stacked Deck edged out Excaper for third in the seven-horse field.

The final time of 1:32.45 was just 0.70 seconds off Wise Dan’s course record.

Tower of Texas earned $144,000 of the $233,200 purse for owners Thomas Van Meter and Scott Dilworth. He is unbeaten in three starts since trainer Roger Attfield had him gelded during the winter.

“I was pretty confident that he’d run well on the turf, but I’d never been able to work him on it,” said Attfield. “He had trained so well going into this race. He went into it such a happy, healthy horse. I’m so proud of him. I was a little concerned when he was a little closer to the pace than where we wanted him, but Eurico rode him really well because he let the [speed] go on and sat patiently until the head of the lane, and then he just exploded. He’s a lovely horse.”