Brenton Avdulla was the first to admit he misjudged Wayed Zain the last time he rode the horse, but the jockey made no such mistake aboard the three-year-old at Canterbury on Wednesday.

Starting at $11, Wayed Zain came from midfield and finished too strongly for $3.20 favourite Cyrus Rocks in the final stretch of the 1900m Hyland Race Colours Plate.

The Hawkes Racing-trained colt had finished seventh at his previous start at Gosford when he tired after trailing the speed.

"The other day I probably rode him too confidently," Avdulla said of the Gosford run.

"I asked him for an effort too early in the race and he's still a bit babyish and he didn't handle it.

"But today, from the draw it sort of forced me to ride him quiet, and we found the fence."

Michael Hawkes said Wayed Zain had been a "slow maturer" but he was not surprised the horse won.

"What I like most is he's got a good turn of foot and from a stayer or a 2000-metre horse, that's really what you're after," he said.

And Hawkes was much happier with Avdulla's effort this time around.

"He rode him perfectly," Hawkes said.