"He's no sprint machine." But Ten Tigers doesn't need to be if he keeps winning 3400-metre races.
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Even less so if he salutes in the $300,000 Jericho Cup (4600m) at Warrnambool in a fortnight.
Not only does Ten Tigers hold the honour of winning the inaugural Road to Jericho at Canberra's Thoroughbred Park.
But he also holds the track record with three minutes and 39.54 seconds - as it's the longest race ever run at the track.
It was Ten Tigers' first win in more than two years.
Zoey Lass took the early lead and set an understandably slow pace, with the Barbara Joseph-trained Ten Tigers well behind at the rear of the field.
But jockey Aaron Sweeney's patience paid off and he waited until the home turn before making his move.
No one could go with him and he cruised to a three-length win from Dexluther, with By Design a length further back in third.
Now Joseph has a trip to Warrnambool to look forward to, having earned a berth in the Jericho Cup.
Her stable foreman Scott Jamieson said the five-year-old gelding has always been looking for more ground - it's just not that easy to find.
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"Barb has always had the opinion that he wanted ground. It's hard to find these long races and Aaron rode him really well today," Jamieson said.
"Aaron made all the right moves at the right time. Coming around the corner he was still bolting.
"He's no sprint machine, but he plugged away. He's got the will to win and he's a lovely horse.
"Now we get to go down to Jericho and have a crack at the 4600m race. So it's pretty exciting for the team."
Canberra Racing chief executive Andrew Clark said they would consider bolstering the prizemoney for next year's Road to Jericho.
This year it was worth $25,000, but that could change in 2020.
"Potentially. We review all prizemoney at the end of the year and it's something we'll look at ... upping that $25,000 to $40,000 next year," Clark said.
Canberra jockey Kayla Nisbet was meant to ride in the race, but scans have confirmed she suffered a broken foot at Gundagai on Friday.