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📻 IMPORTANT AUCKLAND UPDATE 📻
"Quirky horse": Zahra on Tentyris' barrier trial
Connor Scanlon • January 7th, 2026 2:52 pm
Star sprinter Tentyris returned for a barrier trial at Mornington on January 7, preparing the three-year-old for the upcoming Autumn Racing Carnival.
Usual jockey Mark Zahra was aboard the Godolphin colt and was thoroughly impressed with how the chestnut performed in the jumpout.
While he did finish fourth, the champion jockey explained that the trial was mainly about getting the colt more professionalised to the barriers, as Tentyris was recently scratched just moments before the Group 1 Champions Sprint due to complications inside the barrier.
“(He felt) really good, (the trial) was sort of more important about his barriers, because obviously his last run he got scratched out of the Champions Sprint when he reared up and went to the stall next door,” Zahra told SENTrack & RSN’s Giddy Up.
“But his barrier manners were perfect, no blinkers on, he's there just having a nice time.
“He trialled really good actually - to the line he was smoking up right behind him.
“So, couldn't have been happier with him.”
When reflecting on the sprinter’s breakout spring, Zahra admitted that Tentyris is a horse that needs to be ridden for luck, but when everything goes his way, he is one of the most scintillating colts out there.
“He is a quirky horse,” Zahra said.
“He takes a few runs to get going, I don't think that'll be the case this time (in the autumn) because it's not much between the spring and autumn.
“But he likes to be left alone early, so he has to be ridden quiet, and he loves to be in amongst them.
“You'll see when I rode him first-up, down the straight, he was sort of out by his own, he lost interest very quick.
“There's going to be some really heart-stopping moments in his career. He's not going to be a jockey's dream where he's just going to land third or fourth and just stay out in the clear.
“You've got to ride him quiet and ride for luck, so there’s going to be a few heart in the mouth moments, but as long as he can do what he did in the Coolmore for most of the time, everyone will be happy.
“When everything goes right, he's probably one of the most exciting three-year-olds I've ever ridden, for sure.”
In fact, the hoop believes that those reasons make Tentyris perfect for winning straight races, like he did in the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes.
“He's a horse you've got to know, which I have now, but that's why I think the straight suits him really well,” Zahra explained.
“Because you can ride him quiet, you can catch up slowly, you don't have to get back around the bend and make ground around corners.
“You can just ride him back and you smoke up, and then you just need a bit of room or get in amongst them late and he flies.”
