Kind, dam of Frankel, dies at 20

Juddmonte’s blue hen Kind, best known as the dam of unbeaten champion Frankel, died Monday due to foaling complications. The 20-year-old daughter of Danehill had delivered her final foal, a surviving Kingman colt, on March 2.

“I cannot thank the [Rossdales Veterinary team] and Juddmonte team enough for the tireless care they have given Kind,” Juddmonte’s UK stud director Simon Mockridge said in a press release. “To many, she will rightfully always be best remembered as the dam of Frankel and Noble Mission. To us at Juddmonte, she will always be Kind by name and Kind by nature.”

Kind was a second-generation Juddmonte homebred. Her granddam, Rockfest, was purchased privately in 1983 as part of a package from the John Hay Whitney dispersal. She subsequently produced Group 1 winner Rainbow Lake, who went on to produce Group 1 winner Powerscourt, Group 2 winner Riposte, Group 3 winner Last Train, and stakes winner Kind.

During her ontrack career, Kind won 6 of 13 starts, including the Flower of Scotland Stakes at 3 and the Totesport Fillies Stakes at 4 in England. She also was Group 3 placed in Ireland. Retired to Juddmonte's broodmare band, Kind got off to a quick start, as her first foal, Bullet Train, by Sadler's Wells, was a Group 3 winner. He would later serve as a pacemaker for the mare's celebrated second foal. Frankel, by Galileo, won all 14 of his career starts, including 10 Group 1 events, while securing two European Horse of the Year titles.

In 2009, Kind delivered Noble Mission, by Galileo. A Group 1 winner in England, France, and Ireland, he was honored as the Cartier Award European champion older horse. Kind later produced Group 3-placed multiple stakes winner Joyeuse, by Oasis Dream.

As a daughter of a significant broodmare, Joyeuse was an anticipated addition to the Juddmonte broodmare band. The mare has already produced Group 1-placed Jubiloso and stakes-placed Jovial, who have now joined her in the band.

Kind also has left behind a legacy through five sons at stud, led by Frankel. Standing at Juddmonte's Banstead Manor Stud in Newmarket, England, since 2013, he is the sire of 62 stakes winners to date, led by Japanese champion Soul Stirring, Cartier Award champion Cracksman, British classic winners Anapurna and Logician, and eight other Group 1 winners.

Noble Mission stood at Lane's End in Kentucky before moving to Japan; his runners are led by dual Grade 1 winner Code of Honor. Bullet Train, the sire of three stakes winners to date, also stood in Kentucky, at Wintergreen Stallion Station and Crestwood, before relocating to Woodfield Farm Stud in Ireland. Kind's sons at stud are rounded out by Morpheus who stands at Tally-Ho Stud in Ireland and Proconsul in England at Mickley Stud.

Kind's most recent foal produced prior to this month's Kingman colt is the Galileo filly Chiasma. The 3-year-old is currently in training with John Gosden.