A testing spring finally turned in the right direction for the Anthony and Sam Freedman yard, with Tentyris storming to victory in the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes at Flemington.
The win has opened the door for Tentyris to possibly back up into the Group 1 Champions Sprint (1200m) next Saturday, where he would clash with some of Australia’s most seasoned sprinters.
Anthony Freedman travelled down from Sydney to be on track, saying the performance could not have come at a better time for his son and co-trainer Sam after a demanding carnival.
The stable’s patience paid off when Tentyris, heavily supported to start $2.90 favourite, unleashed a powerful finishing burst to score by 2-¼ lengths over My Gladiola ($13), with Legacy Bound ($31) running third.
“I came today, really only to support Sam,” Freedman senior said.
“He’s been here all spring and we really haven’t had, what you would call, a great spring.
“It hasn’t been straight forward, and he has struggled with that a little bit and I said ‘hang in there’ as when you’ve got the right horse, it will do the job and this was the horse we had so much faith in and he prepared him perfectly.
“I just wanted to be here and sit in the background and say well done.”
Tentyris had shown elite promise as a juvenile, running second in the Blue Diamond Stakes and winning a Golden Slipper lead-up before injury halted his Group 1 campaign.
This preparation, the colt tightened with each run, and his Caulfield win on October 18 served as the perfect launching pad.
Jockey Mark Zahra said nothing needed to be complicated.
“Anthony said don’t panic, just trust the horse,” Zahra said.
“He was right and I just trusted the horse. I got on the back of Beiwacht and that other Snowden horse (Racing Force).
“The way he improves each start and the further we went, the more he came up underneath me.
“He let rip when I first let go and then he thought ‘where am I’ and he started to stargaze but he’s a very good colt and what a win”
The colt now looms as a likely starter next weekend.
“We’ll definitely look into it,” Freedman said.
“We’ve said that from day dot. If he has a good three-or-four days, there’s no reason why he will not turn up next week.”
