Eclipse Award winner Kitten's Joy retires

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NICHOLASVILLE, Ky., Sept. 27 (UPI) -- Kitten's Joy, the horse that won the 2004 Eclipse Award, is retiring to a Kentucky stud farm.

Owners Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey said they made the decision reluctantly after Kitten's Joy came in second in the Arlington Million in August and veterinarian determined he was unlikely to continue racing at the top level.

"I'm into the racing end of the sport much more than the breeding end, so it breaks my heart to make this decision, but Kitten's Joy has been very good to my family and we want to do what's best for him," Kenneth Ramsey said in a statement. "We want to treat him like the champion that he is."

Kitten's Joy will spend the 2006 breeding season at the Ramsey farm in Nicholasville with fellow Ramsey Farm stallion Catienus.

The horse won nine of his 14 career starts, bringing in more than $2 million. As a three-year-old in 2004, he won six of eight starts, including the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, and was one of three finalists for Horse of the Year, in addition to winning the Eclipse Award.