Kitten's Joy

Kitten's Joy was a chestnut stallion who was bred by Ken and Sarah Ramsey at their farm in Nicholasville, Kentucky. Sarah Ramsay's nickname "Kitten" was the basis of the name of the first horse she ever bought, Kitten's First. Kitten's First injured herself in her second start and was retired from racing, but proved to be a "Blue Hen" broodmare. Kitten's First was the dam of not only Kitten's Joy, but also of Precious Kitten (Grade I winner, earned over $1.1 million) and Justenuffheart (stakes winner and successful broodmare). Kitten's First broke a hip during her racing career, resulting in narrowing of her pelvis. She delivered Justenuffheart in 1995 but several of her subsequent foals did not survive. In 2001, Ramsey opted to have a Cesarean section performed on Kitten's First – Kitten's Joy was the resultant foal.^[2] Kitten's First produced two more foals via c-section, including Precious Kitten, before she was euthanized in 2006 due to laminitis.^[3][4][5]

Kitten's Joy was sired by El Prado, who in turn was sired by leading Irish sire, Sadler's Wells. El Prado was co-champion as a two-year-old in Ireland with St Jovite, and the first son of Sadler's Wells to retire to stud in North America. El Prado was the leading sire in North America in 2002 thanks in part to multiple Grade I winner Medaglia d'Oro, who went on to become a major sire worldwide.^[6]

The Ramseys once put Kitten's Joy up for sale at auction, at the 2003 Ocala Two-Year-Olds-in-Training Sale, with a reserve of $99,000. "We had a live bid of $95,000", said Ramsay. "He (the bidder) called me up after the sale, and didn't want to go to $100,000. We came within $5,000 of selling him."^[3] The colt subsequently raced with the Ramseys' colors, trained by Dale Romans.^[1]

Kitten's Joy made his first start on August 20, 2003, at Saratoga racetrack, finishing fifth in a five-furlong sprint on the dirt.^[7] On September 24 at Belmont Park, he improved to finish second in a one-mile race on the dirt, beaten by a neck.^[8] For his third start on October 9, Kitten's Joy was switched to the turf and responded with a 4+1⁄2-length victory,^[9] followed up by another win on the turf at Churchill Downs on November 16.^[1]

Kitten's Joy started his three-year-old season on January 1, 2004, in the Grade III Tropical Park Derby at Calder racetrack, winning by 4+1⁄2 lengths. "He's a pretty easy horse to ride", said jockey Jerry Bailey. "He puts you in the race where you want to be, then he comes off the bridle and relaxes until you call on him. I told [Romans], I thought he had a kick left, but I didn't think it would be as explosive as it was."^[10]

Given the win, Ramsey wanted to try the horse on the dirt again in hopes of qualifying for the Kentucky Derby. Accordingly, Bailey rode Kitten's Joy in a six-furlong workout on the dirt, in which Kitten's Joy spotted stakes-winner Dubai Sheikh a six-length lead but still ran him down. While it was an impressive performance, Bailey advised Ramsay that the horse was better on grass and should not be tried on dirt again.^[11]

On February 21, Kitten's Joy returned to win the Palm Beach Stakes at Gulfstream Park by a length.^[4] He followed this up with a win on April 30 in the American Turf Stakes at Churchill Downs before losing his first race since moving to the turf, finishing second in the Jefferson Cup Stakes on June 12.^[1]

In the Virginia Derby on July 10 at Colonial Downs, Kitten's Joy faced off with favored Artie Schiller. The two tracked the early leaders before Artie Schiller made his move entering the stretch. Kitten's Joy responded and the two dueled for about a furlong before Kitten's Joy finally pulled away to win by over two lengths. It was his fourth Grade III win of the year.^[12]

Kitten's Joy then stepped up to the Grade I level in the Secretariat Stakes at Arlington Park on August 14. He was the 4-5 favorite and rewarded bettors with a "convincing" victory by over three lengths. His time for the 1+1⁄4-mile race was 1:59.65, which was 2⁄5 of a second faster than older horses ran in the Arlington Million earlier that day.^[13] The time is a still-standing stakes record.^[14]

In the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational Handicap at Belmont Park on October 2, Kitten's Joy faced older horses for the first time, including European stars Magistretti and Maktub, Arlington Million winner Kicken Kris, and United Nations winner Request for Parole. It was also his first start at 12 furlongs, a distance at which European-bred horses typically excel. Kitten's Joy responded with an "authoritative" win by 2+1⁄2 lengths on a yielding turf course. "What amazed me about him is his turn of foot, acceleration and how kind he is during the race", Romans said. "When you ask him, he just turns it on. This is the best race he's run so far. I thought he would relish a mile and a half, and he showed that he did today."^[15]

In his final start of the year, Kitten's Joy ran second in the 2004 Breeders' Cup Turf, finishing 1+3⁄4 lengths behind Better Talk Now. Kitten's Joy had trouble handling the wet turf course but finally started to make up ground only to be bumped by the eventual winner in the stretch drive. "It completely stopped our momentum", said jockey John Velazquez. "If we had a clean trip, we would have won it." Kitten's Joy dropped back to third but then rallied to beat Powerscourt for second place by a neck. A claim of interference was disallowed by the stewards. "The whole time around he looked like he struggled", said Romans. "He tried the whole way. He showed the heart of a champion."^[16] He was voted the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Male Turf Horse.^[11]

Kitten's Joy started twice as a four-year-old, finishing first in the Firecracker Handicap (now known as the Wise Dan Stakes). He finished second to Powerscourt in the Arlington Million, considered by some to be the turf race equivalent of the Kentucky Derby. He was retired after the Million due to damaged cartilage in his left knee.