Tencendur shows stakes potential in maiden win

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The narrow margin of victory hardly does justice to Tencendur’s maiden win against New York-breds at Aqueduct on Monday. The 3-year-old Tencendur overcame significant adversity to record his three-quarter-length victory and may be on to bigger and better things in a few weeks.

With limited options for 3-year-old maiden winners, Tencendur could make his next start in the Grade 3, $250,000 Withers Stakes here Feb. 7, trainer George Weaver said.

“There’s a New York-bred allowance race the next day that might make sense, too,” Weaver said. “He’s got two route races under his belt. I don’t think the Withers is too far-fetched. We’ll nominate and go from there.”

Tencendur, a son of Warrior’s Reward owned and bred by Philip Birsh, finished third in his debut against open company going a mile and 70 yards here Dec. 12. He was entered back in the Grade 3 Jerome Stakes on Jan. 3 but was scratched. He was entered in a maiden race that twice was canceled due to inclement weather.

In Monday’s race, Tencendur was fourth along the inside under Manuel Franco. He began to move at the half-mile pole but still found himself behind horses and boxed in from the outside by another rival.

It wasn’t until inside the eighth pole that Franco was able to extricate Tencendur from behind horses and squeeze through a narrow opening. Once through the hole, Tencendur lengthened his stride and edged clear. He ran a mile and 70 yards over a sealed, muddy surface in 1:43.45 and was assigned a 75 Beyer Speed Figure.

“He’s a big, long-striding horse, so being bottled up would not play to his strengths,” Weaver said. “So many horses with that type of trip would just quit. It was nice to see that he didn’t.”

Should Weaver elect to skip the Withers and run in the New York-bred allowance race, he could then test the horse in the Grade 2, $400,000 Gotham on March 7.