TRAINER Ed Walker is confident the sky is still the limit for his English King after his star was only fifth in Saturday’s Investec Derby.
And why Walker was disappointed, many other fancied runners also failed to fire.
The Lambourn trainer expects his horse to be competing at the top table for a while yet and has earmarked the St Leger and the Grand Prix de Paris as long-term goals.
But Walker won’t go overboard this season, with big hopes pinned on a four-year-old career.
Walker said: “He’s come out of the race good. It was an unsatisfactory race, from our point of view, but fair play to the winner – he’s obviously a very good, well-bred horse who got loose on the front end and won well on the day.
“I’m very proud of our horse. It was frustrating, because there’s only one Derby and it didn’t go our way, but I’m pleased with the way he ran and excited for the future.
“We were never going to ride him aggressively. I thought Frankie gave him a very good ride, and I have no regrets whatsoever.
“I think if you ran the race 10 times he might come out on top a few times, but it wasn’t to be. He finished faster than any other horse in the race, and hopefully there are big days ahead for him.”
No plans will be made in a rush with the horse set to be given some time to recover, but Walker knows he has a good horse on his hands.
He added: “We’ll let the dust settle and mull over it for a few days,” he added.
“I think an obvious target would be the Grand Prix de Paris, because he’s French-bred and qualifies for the premiums. I wouldn’t rule out the St Leger, but I wouldn’t want to run him on ground any slower than it was at Epsom – rattling quick ground and a nice, even tempo is his gig.
“I don’t think we need to step up in trip, because he’s definitely not a slow horse. The times tell you he finished faster than anything else at Epsom, and he broke a 30-year-old track record when he won at Lingfield.
“We don’t want to overcook it this year – we’re all of the opinion that he’s still a little bit immature and will be an even better horse as a four-year-old, which is exciting.
“I’m 110 per cent not disappointed in the horse at all. I’m disappointed for Bjorn that it didn’t happen on the big day, but we’ve got a proper horse on our hands, which is very exciting.”
