Tentyris primed for Coolmore but Beiwacht a stumbling block

The deliberate plan to ignore feature three-year-old races in Sydney with Tentyris is put to the test when the Godolphin colt lines up in the G1 Coolmore Stud Stakes down the straight 1,200m course at Flemington on Saturday.

Slightly injured while brilliantly winning the G2 Todman Stakes at Randwick back in March, co-trainers Anthony and Sam Freedman sent Tentyris to the paddock and set their sights on the Coolmore.

Even the lure of the G3 San Domenico Stakes, G2 Run To The Rose and G1 Golden Rose at Rosehill Gardens couldn’t sway the Freedmans from targeting a race synonymous with launching future stallion careers.

Tentyris trialled twice before finishing a solid third when resuming in the G2 Danehill Stakes at Flemington, but his second-up victory in the Listed Gothic Stakes over 1,200m at Caulfield last start was spectacular after giving away a long start at the top of the home straight.

Sam Freedman said the chestnut son of Street Boss had trained-on beautifully since and the stable couldn’t be happier.

“He’s great, he’s in good form,” Freedman said.
“He’s been converting fitness in his preparation so far and he looks primed and ready to go on Saturday.
“We’ve had a smooth preparation to date and hopefully that continues to be the case.”

Freedman hopes missing the G1 Golden Slipper and remaining in Melbourne early this spring will pay off when Mark Zahra jumps aboard Tentyris on Saturday.

“We strategically kicked him off late enough into the spring to make sure he was hitting this race third-up,” Freedman said.
“He was third-up in the Blue Diamond when he ran a narrow second and he was fourth-up into the Todman.

“He’s a high-quality horse who has had a slow build-up and his trials have been solid.
“He just didn’t get it (pace) to suit first-up in the Danehill, but we were expecting to see a performance like that (Gothic) so it was good to see.

“He’s been down the straight three times, including a trial, so that won’t faze him at all.
“We’ll leave it Mark, but he’s drawn (five) to have options.

“I’d imagine he’d be looking for some cover and then following the speed through and finishing off really well.”

Champion Sydney trainer Chris Waller disregarded a possible Everest start and also targeted the Coolmore with Beiwacht after the speedy Godolphin colt broke the track record for 1,400m winning the Golden Rose.

“He’s a class horse, his win was simply amazing in the Rose,” Waller said.
“He’s trained-on well since, it’s his first time up the straight and Adam Hyeronimus sticks with the horse.
“He’s in scintillating form and they don’t all adjust to the straight, but I think he will.”

Waller has won three (September Run, Home Affairs and Switzerland) of the past five Coolmores, while James Cummings prepared super filly In Secret to win for Godolphin in 2022.

Godolphin has never won a VRC Derby but has two excellent chances in Saturday’s G1 for three-year-olds over the marathon 2,500m, with Observer (Zahra) and Options (Harry Coffey) lining up.

Observer made amends for his unlucky third in the G1 Caulfield Guineas on 11 October with an arrogant victory in the G2 Vase over 2,040m at The Valley last weekend.

The free-running son of Godolphin UK’s former champion middle-distance galloper Ghaiyyath has drawn beautifully in barrier four and Zahra may again try to control the race from in front.

“Observer is very athletic, he’s got a beautiful action and attitude,” trainer Ciaron Maher said.
“As we saw in the Guineas, he was quite unlucky over the last two furlongs, so you never know what might have been there.

“Last Saturday, out to the 10 furlongs, he was very dominant and the plan has always been the Derby.
“He can travel (overrace) a little bit, so we thought the week turnaround would be great going to the 2,500m.”

Options won well at Flemington over 1,800m before a luckless fifth behind Observer in the Vase.

Co-trainer Calvin McEvoy expects the Impending colt to run boldly in the Derby.

“He’s a really nice horse who has been on a Derby path all the way along,” McEvoy said. 
“He’s handling his work beautifully and I like his barrier (seven).

“He just needs to begin a bit cleaner, he’s been giving away a big start in his races.
“Now that we are up to this level, that’s not ideal.”

McEvoy believes Observer deserves short-priced favouritism but has confidence in Options.

“Obviously the other Godolphin horse trained by Ciaron Maher is going to be awfully hard to beat and looks a lovely horse,” he said.

“But I wouldn’t discount our colt, he’s prepped-up nicely for this.
“I believe he’ll stay and we always wanted to give him a run a week out.

“We like that profile for a Derby, if you’ve got a horse that can handle it.
“He never got to top gear (Vase), but we won’t have that problem on Saturday.”

Meanwhile, Godolphin mares Austmarr (Kerrin McEvoy) and Photograph (Luke Currie) will clash in the G3 Kirin Ichiban Sprint down the straight 1,100m course to finish Derby day.

Photograph is second-up for co-trainers Ben, Will and J.D. Hayes and must lift, while Austmarr should appreciate a bigger track and is drawn to come down the outside rail.

“She’s going well, she hasn’t liked Caulfield and hasn’t been performing at her best,” Freedman said.

“But back down the straight, and at her only start down the straight she performed really well, we are hopeful we’ll see a return to form.”

At Randwick, visiting English jockey Tom Marquand will ride Golden Mile for Godolphin and trainer Joe Pride in the $3 million Russell Balding Stakes over 1,300m, with James McDonald aboard Polyglot for his trainer Michael Freedman in the TAB Handicap over the same distance.