Kitten's Joy continues atop American turf ranks

Few stallions have dominated their niche of the marketplace as thoroughly as Kitten’s Joy has over the last decade. Kitten’s Joy has been North America’s leading living turf sire every year since 2013, keeping that position last season with top-flight performers worldwide.

Among all North American sires, living or deceased, Kitten’s Joy trailed only the late Giant’s Causeway, the sire of Horse of the Year candidate Bricks and Mortar, who captured five Grade 1 events in 2019. Kitten’s Joy led living sires thanks to the young standouts Henley’s Joy and Kameko. Henley’s Joy was the stallion’s leading earner in the United States, with a season highlighted by a victory in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby. Meanwhile, the juvenile Kameko never finished worse than second in four starts in England, highlighted by a victory in the Group 1 Vertem Futurity Trophy.

Kitten’s Joy, who was the nation’s leading general sire in 2013 and 2018, was the Eclipse Award champion turf male of 2004 as a 3-year-old, racing as a homebred for Ramsey Farm. That outfit stood the El Prado horse for more than a decade. Kitten’s Joy moved to Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm beginning with the 2018 season, after the Ramseys sold a 50 percent interest in the horse to the operation.

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