Kitten's Joy

Kitten's Joy (May 8, 2001 – July 15, 2022) was a Thoroughbred racehorse who was a multiple graded stakes winner and the American Champion Turf Horse of 2004.

Kitten's Joy was a chestnut stallion who was bred by Ken and Sarah Ramsey at their farm in Nicholasville, Kentucky.

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.

[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.

[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.

[1] In the Virginia Derby on July 10 at Colonial Downs, Kitten's Joy faced off with favored Artie Schiller.

[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.

"[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.

Rather than relying on outside breeders, Ramsey built a broodmare band of over 100 mares to support Kitten's Joy, often purchasing them in claiming races.

The gamble to invest so heavily in an unproven stallion started to pay off when the first offspring of Kitten's Joy reached the racetrack in 2009.

[20] In 2017, Ramsay announced that he was planning to sell Kitten's Joy, probably to European interests, feeling that the stallion was not getting the respect he deserved from North American breeders.

Kitten's Joy has enjoyed his greatest success with mares who are bred along similar lines to him, with Northern Dancer and/or Roberto in their pedigrees.

As a result, when Kitten's Joy led the sire list in 2013, the Ramseys were also the leading breeders and owners, winning Eclipse Awards in these categories.

[24] Over time though, more of his offspring were produced from outside mares, including his first Group 1 winner in Europe, Hawkbill, who won the 2016 Eclipse Stakes.

[25] Kitten's Joy died on July 15, 2022, in his paddock at Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa in Paris, Kentucky, of what the farm described as an apparent heart attack.

[26] c = colt, f = filly, g = gelding[19][27] † Prior to 2015, the Leading Sire Lists published by The Blood-Horse excluded earnings from Hong Kong and Japan due to the potential distortion caused by higher purse sizes.