The Kittens Joy
$150.000 For Three Year Olds
1 1/16 Miles – Turf
Gulfstream Park – January 31, 2026
Twelve newly minted three-year-olds are headed to the gate on Saturday for the twenty fifth running of The Kittens Joy. The first two years the race was also run as a sprint in the Spring but counting each of those this will be the silver anniversary running.
1. Hengroen (Delta Farms/P. Husbands) Delta Farms homebred won his maiden effort going long on the grass. Trainer took a shot in the Gun Runner where he set the pace and only failed by a length despite fading to seventh. I suspect that front running effort was an attempt to try to overcome his outside post eleven. He draws post one for his first 2026 start and moves back to the grass. I expect him to bide his time and try to make a run as he did in his initial race and win.
2. Britslastempire (Lemax Farms/Jo Ruiz) Won the G2 Pilgrim and the G1 BC Juvenile Turf in his last two starts in a hugely successful debut season that saw him rewarded as an HRP Award finalist for top two-year-old honors. His reward? He gets to carry six pounds more than ten of his eleven rivals and four pounds more than the other. We know he is super talented but is he that good to overcome that substantial weight handicap? He is a big boy at 16.3 hands but that is a lot to ask. It also speaks volumes about the confidence his trainer has in him.
3. Joykiller (Mb Stables/I. Ortiz Jr.) Regally bred homebred son of Preakness and Travers winner Walk Em Down and outstanding sprinter and multiple graded stakes winner Ms Joyce. This will be the colt’s third lifetime start. He won going a mile on turf in his second race where he switched surfaces, stretched out and added Lasix. He responded to all three of those changes from his debut and the trainer keeps things consistent for his stakes debut. Could be any kind and one to watch closely based on pedigree.
4. New Yorks Finest (Big Jd Racing/A.A. Gallardo) Has raced six times since being gelded and has hit the board in every one of those races and that included a State Bred stakes win plus two stakes placings. The other things about those six starts is that they were all on the grass. This is his second start of the year and that was a fast closing third in The Dania Beach on the grass at this track. You have to consider him to be a contender but you also have to be aware that he is the only horse besides Britslastempire carrying more than the base 121 pounds. He is assigned 123 based on his win in The Bongard.
5. Kynsli (Royalty Stables/D. Egan) Won his last race on New Years Eve at this distance on the grass at Parx. He has won two out of five lifetime but the only two times he has failed to hit the top three was in his two stakes attempts. He is being given another class test today, so his trainer has not lost faith and the last win coming off the pace gives some confidence that we have not seen his best yet in stakes company.
6. No Prince (Mb Stables/J. Lezcano) Purchased at the start of the year for $200.000. Never worse than second in five races and that includes a very nice second in the TAA Staes at Del Mar. The winner that day went on to win his next start which was the G3 De Mille Stakes. The last time we saw No Prince he was falling a nose short in the Logan Stakes at Santa Anita at the end of the year and it was days later when Mb Stables brought him into the hive. Comes in with the 121 base weight and is a big threat.
7. Phantom Thunder (Ajm Stables/M.J. Husbands) Like the opponent to his inside he was privately purchased and is making his first start for his new barn. He was bought last October for $125.000 after finishing sixth in the BC Juvenile Turf. His prior race was a third in the G2 Bourbon. Unlike the BC Juvenile Turf where he had to compete against Britslastempire at equal weights he is getting an advantageous six-pound weight shift today. If he has developed at all that six pounds seems like it would be enough to give him a shot at turning the tables.
8. Royally Great (La Canada Racehorses/M.J. Sanchez) His record is impressive with three wins from six starts and only finishing worse than second in one race. He has won his last three starts and has progressed up the condition ladder. In his first route effort on grass, he won his last start by three lengths and earned his shot at stakes company.
9. Montauciel (Waldo/S.X. Bridgmohan) Won his second start in a high-level allowance sprinting on the grass at Del Mar in late November. He was brought back going a mile on the grass at Santa Anita in the Logan Stakes a month later where he was closing fast and was right behind No Prince. With more ground he looks good off of that effort to be a major factor again
10. Matsuyama (Riggins Racing/F. Geroux) Four starts with two wins and two seconds so he has shown that possesses the competitive gene. He won his last race going a mile on grass and did it in a way that suggests more distance would only be more to his liking. Most recent public works are on dirt and nothing in the current calendar year, but he is a homebred from a top barn and has been carefully brought along to this point so you know he is well prepared.
11. Techno Residency (The Sidley Stud/B. Curtis) Making his second start of the year. His first race was a good effort in The Dania Beach where he passed New Yorks Finest late to take second. That was his second straight stakes placing and was his first try on the grass and he seemed to relish the change of footing. He is a contender off of that race, but his post eleven draw does not help his chances.
12. Smokin Future (Red Fox Farms/D.E. Centeno) Red Fox Farms won this race last year with their homebred Smokin Access who was eventually privately sold later in the year but is still active under the Sheffler Stables banner. The barn looks for a repeat with another homebred son from their stallion Smokin Lemon. Smokin Future won a MSW at Del Mar on the grass and then came back to run a closing fifth in the Logan Stakes. He has a very similar record and profile as Montauciel. They seem to be shadowing each other since breaking their maidens on the same day at Del Mar. The added distance would appear to be helpful, but he is hindered by the draw.
At equal weights Britslastempire would be the standout pick. Carrying six pounds more than virtually the entire field makes you want to look elsewhere for the upset. Out of respect for his record and his BC win though I will stick with the champ and give him the nod in his 2026 bow. Behind him is a very equal field and you can make a case for everybody. Having made my excuse for getting it wrong I will put Joykiller second just on the basis of pedigree snobbery. Royally Great will be my pick for third based on his steady progression, three straight wins and his last win by daylight.
Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded