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Son of Kitten’s Joy lands adds second Group 1 to record
Qatar Racing will forever be associated with multiple Group 1 winner Roaring Lion (Kitten’s Joy) and they look to have another talented son by Kitten’s Joy (El Prado) on their hands in the form of Kameko (3 c ex Sweeter Still by Rock of Gibraltar), who produced a brave performance to win the 2,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1m) at Newmarket on Saturday.
In the run up to the first Classic of the British season - which was held a month later than usual due to the coronavirus pandemic - all the talk was about unbeaten juvenile Godolphin-raced Pinatubo (Shamardal), who was sent off the red-hot 5 / 6 favourite.
But the son of Shamardal (Giant's Causeway) never looked to be travelling with his usual ease throughout the mile contest and it was last season’s Futurity Trophy (Gr 1, 1m) winner Kameko who came home the strongest to overhaul the Aidan O’Brien-trained Wichita (No Nay Never) by a neck, with Pinatubo finishing another length further back in third.
Winning jockey Oisin Murphy said: "I don't want to cry. My boss, Sheikh Fahad is at home in Newmarket and obviously with the current pandemic he couldn't be here.
"I started my career with Andrew Balding as trainer. To ride a Classic winner, my first one, in these colours – this horse's father is Kitten's Joy, the same as Roaring Lion – is incredible. It's the stuff of dreams.
"It was a gutsy performance. He hardly blew a candle out afterwards – he must have a tremendous amount of ability."
Purchased by Qatar Racing for US$90,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Kameko is out of the Grade 3 winner Sweeter Still (Rock Of Gibraltar), who was subsequently sold for a mere US$1,500 Keeneland November Breeding Sale in 2018.
Sweeter Still herself is a half-sister to Kingsbarns (Galileo) - who like Kameko won the Futurity Trophy, when it was known as the Racing Post Trophy, while she is also the half-sister to Group 3 winner Belle Artiste (Namid).
The colt is one 14 top-flight winners for Kitten’s Joy (El Prado) - whose most successful progeny was the aforementioned Roaring Lion, who died at Cambridge Stud before he covered his first book of mares in the southern hemisphere.
Sweeter Still’s filly by Big Blue Kitten - a son of Kitten’s Joy - was purchased by Atlantic Bloodstock for US$5,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale in 2019.
Kitten's Joy is now based at Hill 'N' Dale Farms in Lexington where his 2020 fee was set at US$75,000.