A bundle of Joy as Kitten's continues his transatlantic takeover

Charismatic owner and breeder Ken Ramsey has made no secret of his desire to establish a dynasty with his pride and joy Kitten's Joy. The son of El Prado's results on the other side of The Pond suggest his owner's wish has all but been granted on home soil, with Kitten's Joy having been crowned US champion sire in 2013, and having claimed the turf sires' crown for the last four seasons - with a fifth consecutive turf title already looking likely.

But his proclivity for siring performers that excel on grass means that Europe was always going to be an important battleground for Kitten's Joy, and among a week of action that came thick and fast, a Pattern race brace for the sire may well have helped secure the foundation of what could become a global empire.

The Group-race double was initiated by Hawkbill, one of ten top-level winners by the Ramsey Farm resident, who proved more resolute than his stablemate - the well-bred Frontiersman - in the Group 2 Princess of Wales's Stakes at Newmarket on Thursday.

This is not the first time that the Godolphin-owned and Charlie Appleby-trained runner has pushed his sire's name to the fore, having supplied Kitten's Joy with his first top-level scorer in Europe when landing last year's Coral-Eclipse. The four-year-old colt has now won eight of his 16 starts, including two Group 3 prizes and a Listed race.

The second leg came when Taareef readily lowered the colours of the highly touted Al Wukair in the Group 3 Prix Messidor at Maisons-Laffitte on Sunday to complete a hat-trick for his owner Hamdan Al Maktoum and Jean-Claude Rouget.

The four-year-old's latest victory saw him draw level with Hawkbill on Kitten's Joy's leading progeny list by Racing Post Ratings, with both having earned a mark of 121, and took his record to six wins from nine starts, the highlight of which came when landing the Prix Daniel Wildenstein last year.

Taareef (left) storms clear of the field to land the Prix Daniel Wildenstein at ChantillyCredit: Edward Whitaker

Ramsey and his wife Sarah stood firmly behind their horse during his formative years at stud, but last week's winners represent the second wave of runners off the Kitten's Joy production line.

Hawkbill was bred by the Helen K Groves Revokable Trust, before being sold as a yearling at Keeneland for $350,000 to John Ferguson, while Taareef was bred by Dixiana Farms and became the most expensive Kitten's Joy yearling at that Keeneland September Sale when fetching $675,000 from Shadwell Estate Company.

The Queen, Juddmonte Farms, the Aga Khan, Godolphin and the Niarchos family are among the big names to have supported Kitten's Joy in recent years.

It is also noteworthy that a member of racing royalty such as Rouget was quick to highlight his affection for Kitten's Joy, and his desire to see horses such as Taareef given the chance to exert his influence in Europe.

"Taareef is by a good stallion and I hope he will stand one day in France," said the master trainer. "In my opinion [Taareef] is a very interesting horse in terms of his bloodlines. Of course it will be up to the boss, but I would like to see him at stud here."

As well-bred, high-achieving runners by a stallion whose reputation looks on the verge of developing beyond a cult following, Hawkbill and Taareef have surely done enough to earn their place at stud in the not too distant future.

The 16-year-old son of El Prado already has nine representatives at stud in the US, with the likes of Secretariat Stakes winner Admiral Kitten and four-time Grade 1 scorer Big Blue Kitten, while Breeders' Cup Turf hero Bobby's Kitten - who ran away with a Cork Listed event on his sole start for Dermot Weld - became his first Europe-based sire son when taking up residence at Kirsten Rausing's Lanwades Stud in Newmarket at a fee of £12,500 earlier this year.

There could be further European success in the pipeline for Kitten's Joy, who has a large number of two-year-olds in Europe. Owen Burrows trains Alyamaama, a half-sister to 1,000 Guineas winner Ghanaati and the talented Mawatheeq and Rumoush; Roger Varian has Diraasaat, who is out of a Storm Cat half-sister to three-time Grade 1 winner Golden Apples; William Haggas has Dramatic Queen, who descends from Lady O'Reilly’s family of Madeira Mist and Joshua Tree; and John Gosden has Roaring Lion, a colt out of a stakes-placed half-sister to four black-type winners including Grade 2 scorers Schiaparelli and Moulin De Mougin.

Ramsey has been empire building with Kitten's Joy since he entered stud back in 2007. Having conquered the US scene, last week's European results, coupled with a growing weight of international support, suggest a full-scale takeover could well be on the horizon.