After a stop-start beginning to his spring campaign, Tom Kitten will finally get the race conditions he’s been waiting for when he lines up in Saturday’s Group 1 King Charles III Stakes (1609m) at Randwick. Trainer Sam Freedman believes the gelding is now ready to show his best following a disrupted few weeks.
Tom Kitten was a late scratching at the barriers ahead of the Memsie Stakes (1400m), forcing a reshuffle of his preparation. Subsequent runs in the Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) and Feehan Stakes (1600m) didn’t pan out ideally, with both races lacking tempo and dominated by leaders such as Mr Brightside.
“He’s been good, he arrived up in Sydney on Sunday morning,” Freedman said. “He worked strongly Tuesday morning, so he just needs a big field, a lot of tempo. He should get that on Saturday, which is, I think, just what he’s been lacking in his races so far this prep.”
Freedman, who trains in partnership with his father Anthony, said the sequence of small-field, tactical races had prevented Tom Kitten from finding his rhythm. “They’ve all been small fields, tactical races. He’s been over-racing a touch, but he feels like he’s probably coming right for the right race,” he explained.
“It’s been frustrating. Missing the run in the Memsie, it’s had a bit of a knock on effect. We had to trial him again, then he went to the Makybe and they crawled, he was keen,” Freedman lamented. “Then he went to the Feehan and they went flat out from the thousand (metres). He had to work into the race to get to them, and then he ran out of tickets the last little bit.”
Despite that, Freedman believes the two contrasting runs have left the gelding in perfect shape for Saturday’s assignment. “But weirdly enough, the two races have possibly married up to have him pretty ripe for Saturday. I saw Attrition ran really well in the Hill Stakes out of Pride Of Jenni’s race, so I think there’s some confidence that he’s going to be ready to go for this weekend,” he said.
“His best form he’ll be right there, but it’s a tough race and on exposed form so far this prep he needs to improve, but I think the trip away, his coat’s starting to come right, he’ll give him something to race for anyway.”
Tom Kitten sits at $21 in early markets for the King Charles III Stakes, which will be run over the official 1609 metres. Fangirl leads betting, while the extended distance provides an advantage to younger horses under the weight-for-age scale — meaning Bjorn Baker’s filly Within The Law will carry 49kg instead of 50kg if she takes her place.
Punters can follow the latest odds for the King Charles III Stakes through Australia’s best betting sites.