Pedigree Insights: Kitten's Joy & Roaring Lion

Little more than a year ago, Bill Finley reported in these pages that Ken Ramsey was intent on transferring Kitten's Joy from Kentucky to Europe, citing the lack of interest in his star stallion's yearlings at the 2017 Keeneland September Sale.

“He is the most underappreciated sire in North America,” Ramsey complained. “I am disgusted at what those horses sold for at Keeneland. He is the number-one living sire in North America, yet people here just aren't interested in buying his yearlings. All the good ones are being bought by Europeans as it is, so that's another reason to send him over there. I understand why. People here with the Grade I-winning mares want to breed to Tapit and the top commercial dirt sires. And those are the horses people are willing to pay the big money for.

“For him, it's time for a fresh start and a new chapter in his career,” he said. “He's peaked over here. It's time to try something new.”

Ramsey also explained that he had previously resisted sending Kitten's Joy to Europe because he is “a family pet” and outlined the demands he would make to ensure his favourite's well-being, including a ban on shuttling him to the Southern Hemisphere and a promise that Kitten's Joy would be returned to Ramsey Farm when he is eventually pensioned.

“I know money is what makes the world go around, but I'm not going to do this for the money,” Ramsey said. “I want to do it for the horse because he deserves a fair chance to show what he can really do as a stallion. I think over there people with the very best mares will be eager to breed to him.”

However, even a man as bold and forthright as Ramsey can be forced to change his mind. “My wife and my family just absolutely threw a fit over this,” he explained about 10 days later. “My wife owns half of him. It became unbearable and I have to live with the family.”

So, instead of the long trek to Europe, Kitten's Joy made the considerably shorter journey from Ramsey Farm on Nicholasville Road to Hill 'n' Dale Farms on North Tarnallton Pike after Hill 'n' Dale had acquired a 50% interest.

Ramsey had speculated that Kitten's Joy would have been available in Europe for the equivalent of around $70,000, but the new partnership decided to reduce his fee to $60,000, after four years at $100,000. It looks as though that ploy had the desired effect, as Kitten's Joy's fee for 2019 has risen to $75,000.

Bearing in mind that War Front, America's most expensive stallion in 2019, is priced at $250,000, Kitten's Joy has achieved an enormous lot for a stallion standing at $75,000. Since he took the champion sire's title in 2013 he has finished third three times and he again holds a comfortable lead in the race for the 2018 championship.

Of course that could change after the Breeders' Cup, but Kitten's Joy has often made his presence felt at these championships, including in 2014, when his progeny showcased both their talent and their versatility. Luck of the Kitten made a brave attempt to lead throughout in the Juvenile Turf, only to be cut down in the final stages. Stephanie's Kitten also found just one too good for her in the Filly & Mare Turf, but the 3-year-old Bobby's Kitten managed to catch No Nay Never in the Turf Sprint. Stephanie's Kitten had won the Juvenile Fillies Turf three years earlier and went on to win the Filly & Mare Turf as a 6-year-old, while Kitten's Joy added another victory when Oscar Performance took the 2016 Juvenile Turf.

Performances like these have helped Kitten's Joy take five consecutive titles as North America's champion turf sire, but there is another dimension to his talents which isn't always appreciated–he was also champion sire of 2-year-olds in 2011. A few years ago, for an article in the Thoroughbred Owner & Breeder, I amalgamated the Experimental Free Handicaps for the five years between 2009 and 2013 to see which stallions had achieved the most qualifiers. I was rather surprised to find that the clear leader was Kitten's Joy, with an impressive total of 24, comprising 11 males and 13 fillies. He had five crops of racing age at that stage and they had all produced at least two qualifiers for the Experimental. His best totals include seven in 2011, six in 2012 and five in 2013. He reinforced his position with the 2014 Experimental, which featured six of his progeny–more than any other stallion.

My surprise stemmed from the fact that Kitten's Joy, a champion middle-distance turf horse, hadn't even tackled stakes company at two (though he did round off his first season with victories over 8 1/2 and 9 furlongs). However, his pedigree gave him every right to be a good sire of juveniles. His sire El Prado was a four-time winner at two in Ireland, where he won the G1 National S. and G2 Beresford S. Also, three of Kitten's Joy's four grandparents (Sadler's Wells, Lady Capulet and Lear Fan) were Group 1 winners in Europe, with all three gaining at least one Group 1 victory over a mile at three, so there are comparatively speedy elements in his pedigree.

Kitten's Joy's ability to sire smart juveniles was again apparent last year, when Roaring Lion won his first three starts, all over a mile, including the G2 Royal Lodge S., in which he narrowly defeated Nelson (recently an excellent eighth in the Arc, beaten less than five lengths after setting the pace). He then fought out another photo finish with another Ballydoyle colt in the G1 Racing Post Trophy but this time had to settle for second place behind Saxon Warrior.

You don't need me to detail every one of his eight 3-year-old starts. Suffice to say that he has thrived on a demanding campaign and has rewarded his connection's bold approach with four consecutive Group 1 victories, including three in tight finishes. In defeating Saxon Warrior by a neck at Sandown in July, he became Kitten's Joy's second winner of the Coral-Eclipse, following Hawkbill's 2016 success.

It is testament to Roaring Lion's versatility that he could win the Queen Elizabeth II S. over a mile on soft going when his three previous Group 1 wins had been gained at around a mile and a quarter on fast ground. He even finished third in the Derby, when the extra distance proved just beyond him.

It will now be fascinating to see how he fares if he switches to dirt in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. In some fascinating statistics published in last Friday's TDN, Kitten's Joy was credited with having gained 98% of his 2018 earnings on turf.

I once rounded off a January 2013 TDN article on Kitten's Joy and his son Csaba with the line “Csaba has now won four consecutive stakes races on dirt and we can surely expect to see future crops by Kitten's Joy coming up with high-class winners on all surfaces.” I have come to regret writing that, as turf has remained the dominant aspect of Kitten's Joy's career, and I will only believe that Roaring Lion is a dirt horse when I see it.

It has to be in his favour that his dam Vionnet was a daughter of the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile and GI Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense. However, Vionnet was primarily a turf performer, and a talented one, too, as she was Grade I-placed over a mile and a quarter in California. California was also the base for her dam, the speedy Cambiocorsa and for several of Cambiocorsa's other foals. Cambiocorsa, a sister to the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint winner California Flag, made 16 of her 18 starts on turf and won nine of them. Her daughters Schiaparelli and Moulin de Mougin also shone on turf, with each of them becoming a Grade II winner, even though their sires Ghostzapper and Curlin raced mainly on dirt (Curlin was second in the GI Man o'War S. on his only appearance on turf).

Whatever happens in the Classic, Roaring Lion has demonstrated all the qualities required to make him very popular when he retires to Tweenhills, especially when his pedigree is free of Danzig. It is going to be interesting to see whether Kitten's Joy can establish a flourishing male line in Europe. His fast son Bobby's Kitten is coming up to his third season at Lanwades Stud and the very smart French miler Taareef will be standing at Haras du Mezeray in 2019. Then there's Godolphin's recently-retired Hawkbill, who earned more than £3.5 million thanks to several heart-warmingly brave efforts over a mile and a quarter and a mile and a half.