The well-bred colt Tenenbaum has been given the opportunity to aim for higher honours this spring following his impressive victory in the opening race at Canterbury.
A full sibling to the 2025 Hong Kong Derby victor Cap Ferrat, the Snitzel colt is not expected to be tested over a long distance this preparation, but trainer Brad Widdup harbours hopes that the three-year-old can still make a significant impact during the carnival.
“He’s always shown a hell of a lot of promise,” Widdup stated. “Unfortunately last time he got crook leading up to the better races and we had to change tack. He went to a maiden and won well and everyone saw what happened in the Clarendon Stakes. He never really got a fair crack. He’s bounced back and he’s in at the right time of year. We’ll try to sneak around the edges and see how far we get with him this time through, but he looks a horse with talent.”
Widdup had reservations about running Tenenbaum when the Canterbury track was heavy, but his concerns proved unfounded as the $2.05 favourite powered to a 2-1/4 length triumph over Yangzi River ($10), with Sprightly Affair ($3.70) securing third place.
Although no specific program has been finalised for the colt, Widdup is eager to explore stakes level racing, with the Callander-Presnell (1600m) being a potential target.
“He’s still learning. I don’t think I’d want to go 2000 (metres) in the spring, or to a Derby or anything,” he explained. “But there are a lot of good races. The advantage is we can keep them in Sydney a fair while too now, you don’t have to run off to Melbourne and chase down there. We’ll just try to place him along the way.”
Another horse of notable breeding made its mark in the second race. Godolphin filly Piedmont, a daughter of multiple Group 1 winner Guelph, broke her maiden status in the Headwater @ Vinery Stud Handicap (1250m).
Ciaron Maher’s assistant trainer, Jo Gerard-Dubord, believes the three-year-old will be even stronger in the autumn, but possesses the racing acumen to advance through the grades.
“She’s got a fair bit of quality. She is well bred, Mum was very good, and it’s nice to get a city winner for Godolphin,” Gerard-Dubord commented. “She’s only going to keep improving. Now she’s got her win out of the way, hopefully she can go on to better things.”
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