Tom Kitten an Up And Coming star for Godolphin
Group 3 victory puts a suite of three-year-old features on the agenda for James Cummings’ rising star
James Cummings admits he may have to widen his spring ambitions for three-year-old Tom Kitten (Harry Angel), who returned to the track a narrow but impressive winner of the Up And Coming Stakes (Gr 3, 1300m) at Rosehill yesterday.
Cummings had earlier believed the Spring Champion Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) looked an ideal spring grand final for the Godolphin colt, who had won the Fernhill Mile (Listed, 1600m) in the autumn.
But features like the Golden Rose (Gr 1, 1400m) or the Caulfield Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) look well within Tom Kitten’s grasp, based on the considerable improvement he showed when spotting his rivals four kilograms and a head start, before surging home under the urgings of Nash Rawiller.
Tom Kitten ran down the Gary Portelli-trained Kintyre (Hallowed Crown) by 0.2 lengths in the final stages, while the runner-up’s stablemate Encap (Capitalist), worked home well to claim third, another half a length adrift.
The race had been set-up by the strong early pace of race favourite Les Vampires (Pierro), who was sternly challenged by Griff (Trapeze Artist), with the bookies’ other favoured runner, Caballus (I Am Invincible) tracking them on the pace.
Surprisingly, Caballus was the first to crack, dropping off early in the straight and leaving the front two clear of the field but sitting shots for Kintyre, who had closed quickly from midfield to challenge. However, Rawiller had yet to extend Tom Kitten, who quickly peeled off Kintyre’s back.
The eventual winner didn’t put the race to bed quickly, as Kintyre gave strong resistance, only to be beaten inside the final few strides.
It was a significant victory for Godolphin, as it was the first Group success for the southern hemisphere-bred contingent of Darley’s Harry Angel (Dark Angel).
At a time of year where the leading studs are showcasing their stallions, early season results can prove very valuable, and there may be much more to come this spring from Harry Angel’s first–crop star.
“It’s not entirely surprising that he shows up with a PB first-up in his second prep, and he kept improving all last prep, but he has improved a lot to get to that level today,” Cummings said.
“To give upwards of four kilos to some of these horses is a special performance resuming and it lays a very promising platform for the rest of his spring.”
Only one horse this century, Tiger Of Malay (Extreme Choice), has carried more weight to win an Up And Coming Stakes, a race which features stars such as Exceed And Excel (Danehill), Fastnet Rock (Danehill), Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) and Divine Prophet (Choisir) on its honour roll.
While that list of names is predominantly made up of sprinters – the race was run over 1200 metres until 2010 – Tom Kitten shows indication he will prefer races at 1600 metres or longer.
“It’s not easy for a two-year-old to win over a mile at stakes level, we don’t have too many of them in Australia, the fact he was able to accomplish that in the autumn, goes to show what natural stamina the horse has got,” the trainer said.
“I thought a few weeks ago, he had Spring Champion Stakes written all over him, but he may have other races on the way there, on the back of a performance like that.
“That was an exciting first-up win. If he had have got within a couple of lengths of them with a weight disadvantage, it would have been very promising, but to win is hair-raising and to think a Harry Angel won the Up And Coming today and nearly won the Vain Stakes last week, it’s a wonderful start for that young sire.”
Rawiller always held a strong opinion of Tom Kitten, having ridden him in both his two-year-old victories, but was mightily impressed by how he has developed ahead of his second preparation.
“It is exciting to get on him. After riding him through last prep I was thinking we might have a nice horse and going around to the gates today I thought ‘we’ve got a horse’,” he said after the win, his first in the Up And Coming as a jockey.
“We had plans to ride for luck in the run, with the big weight and try and save ground and ride for the better part of the track. I straightened up and had a look, and it was like trying to park a bus in George Street.
“He’s a horse you will never find the bottom off. He has gears. When you have had a bit to do with them as a young horse and they come back like that, it is pretty exciting.”
With Group 1 targets in his sights, there is a long-term possibility that Tom Kitten will follow in the steps of those earlier mentioned Up And Coming winners as a stallion, and there is plenty of encouragement in his pedigree in that regard.
A half-brother to stakes winner Promotions (Exceed And Excel) and multiple city winner Va Via (Astern), Tom Kitten is out of Street Cry (Machiavellian) mare Transfers. His grand-dam, Movin’ Out (Encosta De Lago), is a three-quarter sister to Group 1 winning stallion Manhattan Rain (Encosta De Lago), while a generation further back, his third dam Twyla (Danehill) is a half-sister to blue hen Shantha’s Choice (Canny Lad) and three-quarter sister to Group 1 winners and Group 1-producing stallions Redoute’s Choice (Danehill) and Al Maher (Danehill).
It is a developing family from a Godolphin perspective. Tom Kitten is Transfers’ fourth foal and she has a two-year-old Brazen Beau (I Am Invincible) colt, while she is due to foal to Palace Pier (Kingman) this spring.
Harry Angel begins his fifth season at Darley Kelvinside next Friday, having served his biggest ever Australian book, 174, in 2022. Standing at $33,000 (inc GST), he has 73 winners globally, including eight stakes winners, with three of those coming from his first Australian crop, which has yielded 11 winners to date.