The Anthony and Sam Freedman stable had been enduring a tough spring campaign, but the victory of Tentyris in the Coolmore Stud Stakes has given the team something to celebrate.
And a start against the older horses in the Group 1 Champions Sprint (1200m) next Saturday is on the cards for the three-year-old.
Now based in Sydney, Anthony Freedman made the trip down for the Victoria Derby Day at Flemington as support for his Sam, more than anything else.
Freedman senior said his son had been feeling the effects of a tough spring, but as he had done over decades as the right-hand man for his brother Lee and now in his latest training venture, he told Sam to trust the processes.
Those processes worked as Tentyris showed a devastating turn of foot to claim the Group 1 contest for three-year-olds that has proven to be a stallion making race in the past.
Sent out the $2.90 favourite under Mark Zahra, Tentyris raced to a 2-¼ length victory from My Gladiola ($13) with Legacy Bound ($31) a further three-quarters-of-a-length away 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 was a class two-year-old and finished second in the Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield before going to Sydney to win an important Golden Slipper lead-up, only to be ruled out of the main contest with a stress fracture.
Resuming in early October, Tentyris needed the run when finishing third before producing his trademark burst of speed in winning at Caulfield on October 18.
That race set Tentyris up perfectly for Saturday’s Group 1 sprint and Zahra went out with a plan to ride the colt in a similar fashion.
The turn of foot Tentyris showed, had the race all over at the 100m mark.
“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”
Freedman senior said Tentyris will be given the chance to back-up in the Champions Sprint.
“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.”
