Fitter Tom Kitten in the 2025 Feehan Stakes

Tom Kitten will get another chance to make his mark this preparation when he contests the Group 2 Feehan Stakes (1600m) at Moonee Valley on Friday night, with his trainers expecting a much stronger tempo than last start.

The colt resumed in the Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) at Flemington on September 13, finishing fifth after a slowly run affair that saw him over-race and fade late.

This time, Pride Of Jenni’s presence should inject much-needed speed into the six-horse field, which Sam Freedman believes will be ideal for his charge.

Freedman said the main positive from his first-up outing was his improved behaviour at the start, after being scratched from the Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) in late August when he misbehaved at the barriers.

“He began really well out of the gates if you want to take something positive out of the experience first-up,” Freedman said.

“He was very fresh for the first half, and it probably told at the finish. He pulled too hard, but all the same he pulled up well and had a nice blow.

“Coming to the Feehan, it will be a different race shape to what he was coming out of, so we felt the need to step his training up and be quite hard on him between runs.

“It’s a tricky dynamic when you’re coming out of a slowly run race to one where they go flat out.

“Pride Of Jenni being in a race, you need to be rock hard fit, so he’s had a couple of searching gallops between runs and he’ll be in the firing line on Friday night.”

Tom Kitten has also had a gallop at Moonee Valley in the lead-up, and Freedman said he handled the unique circuit without issue.

The stable remains focused on a spring program that includes the Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m) on October 25, with the Feehan serving as an important stepping stone.

“That (race at Flemington) was our Memsie run, clearing the cobwebs, and hopefully now we can have a clear run through,” Freedman said.

“You chase your tail a little bit, but hopefully he’s on the right leg and he can make an impact.”

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