THERE is no more endearingly romantic story of the turf than the recent success of Arthur Kitt in the Listed Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot. The son of champion two and three-year-old Camelot (Montjeu) is from the second crop of that triple classic winner and the first of his sire’s juveniles of 2018 to win a stakes race.

Andrew Black owned and raced Ceiling Kitty, a daughter of Red Clubs (Red Ransom), and she was trained by Tom Dascombe to land the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes at the royal meeting back in 2012. She retired to Black’s Chasemore Farm and there she produced three winners with her first three foals. However, there is a sad twist to the tale.

Arthur Kitt is her third offspring and, after a difficult foaling, the colt survived but his dam had to be put down. It all seemed a disaster, with Black’s actual plan of breeding a Chesham Stakes winner appearing to lie in tatters. That same year Ceiling Kitty’s first foal Eartha Kitt (Pivotal) started her racing career, one which lasted two seasons, encompassed just nine starts, but resulted in a listed win and a group-placed finish. She is back now at Chasemore and in foal to Frankel (Galileo).

Born between Eartha Kitt and Arthur Kitt was Formidable Kitt (Invincible Spirit) and she has won for the Dascombe yard. Failing to build on that juvenile debut success, she will surely yet be tried in a listed race before the year is out. She does not, however, have the ability of her siblings.

Andrew Black did try to sell Ceiling Kitty as a yearling, but she was retained for only 16,000gns in Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Sale. Her sire Red Clubs won the Group 1 Haydock Sprint and died as a seven-year-old in just his third season at stud. His best runner was another filly, Sky Lantern.

Ceiling Kitty is the best winner so far from Baldovina (Tale Of The Cat) and she was sold last year by Black at the Goffs London Sale to SackvilleDonald for £300,000, carrying to Le Havre (Noverre) and with a filly foal at foot by Muhaarar (Oasis Dream). Her story is quite a rags to riches tale.

Originally in training with Marco Botti, and then with Tom Dascombe, Baldovina failed to win but she was placed a few times. She moved to a third trainer when David Pipe took over the task of finding a winning bracket, but two juvenile starts over hurdles failed to work the magic. She then headed to the paddocks where her first five foals have yielded three winners and a pair of placed runners. Her three-year-old and two-year-old, by the sub-fertile Reckless Abandon (Exchange Rate) and Iffraaj (Zafonic) respectively, are in Japan.

The fact that they have headed to Japan is no surprise. Baldovina was the only offspring of the Group 3 Prix Penelope winner Baldwina (Pistolet Bleu) to be foaled in England. Baldwina was then sold to Japan and her first produce there was the filly One Carat (Falbrav), a three-time Group 3 winner, while her best offspring is the 2016 Group 1 Oka Sho (1000 Guineas) heroine Jeweler (Victoire Pisa).

Baldwina is interesting in that she is one of three stakes winners from Balioka (Tourangeau) who won a couple of times on the flat but was far better over jumps, her eight victories over obstacles including a listed chase at Toulouse.

Camelot had a good Royal Ascot, also siring the Group 3 Hampton Court Stakes winner Hunting Horn. He shares the distinction of siring a pair of winners at the meeting with Galileo, Sea The Stars and Shamardal, while Frankel outshone the quartet with three winners.

Camelot’s first crop also includes the Group 2 winning two-year-old Fighting Irish, Group 3 winners Pollara and Italian 2000 Guineas winner Wait Forever, while his listed winners are Alounak and Naturally High.