Tricky Tel

Both wins came on normal ground over short distances, and that combination appears to be his sweet spot. Across races run on standard conditions at trips between five and six-and-a-half furlongs, he has won 2 of his 4 attempts — half the time. That is a very healthy record, and it suggests a horse who knows what he is doing when conditions suit. Jockey Silvestre De Sousa described a horse who travels powerfully and naturally through a race, even when things get chaotic around him — in one messy Chester race, Tricky Tel half missed the start and still found a way to win. "He's not very big," De Sousa said afterwards, "but he's got a lot of ability."

Palmer himself has been candid that the horse's path has not been entirely smooth. He openly described Tricky Tel as "well-named" — because he has genuinely been tricky to manage, with some soundness issues that have interrupted his season. Palmer has ruled him out for the rest of 2025 and suggested he will likely be gelded before returning in the spring. It is a reminder that talent and fragility can sit side by side in a young horse. What is encouraging is that his form figures — 1, 1, 5, 7, 4, 3 in reverse order — show his two wins coming first, before things became more complicated. When he has been right, he has been very good.

At just 3 years old, with a Chester record that any horse would be proud of and a trainer who clearly believes in him, Tricky Tel is the kind of horse whose story is only getting started. Whether he comes back in the spring as a more settled, mature animal will determine just how far that ability can take him.