LAST year David Loughnane won the Jemima Howden Novice Stakes at Ascot with subsequent Group 2 winner Go Bears Go, though the race carried a different name then. Two years earlier Mark Johnston was successful in the race with another subsequent group winner, Blown By Wind.

This year Loughnane introduced his 525,000gns breeze-up purchase Walbank in the corresponding event, but had to settle for second best behind Noble Style, who coincidentally sold for the exact same amount as a yearling at Tattersalls in Book 1 of the October Yearling Sale. The son of Kingman (Invincible Spirit) out of Eartha Kitt (Pivotal) was bred by Andrew Black’s Chasemore Farm in Surrey. Kingman on a Pivotal mare has already produced the stakes winner and Group 1 runner-up Roseman.

Lot 1 at the Newmarket sale, the bay Noble Style was purchased by Godolphin and his victory on Saturday at Ascot was the first juvenile success for Charlie Appleby in 2022. He is the second foal from his dam, the first being the unraced three-year-old Madame Zeroni (Frankel) who has been retained by Chasemore Farm.

Four years ago Black realised a dream when he won the Listed Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot with Arthur Kitt (Camelot), and this half-brother to Eartha Kitt was also group-placed. They are out of the Black-owned Ceiling Kitty, a daughter of Red Clubs (Red Ransom) who won the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot in 2012. She retired to Chasemore Farm and bred three winners with her only three foals.

Arthur Kitt was her third and final offspring who, after a difficult foaling, survived, but sadly his dam had to be put down. That same year Ceiling Kitty’s first foal Eartha Kitt started her racing career, one which lasted two seasons, was made up of just nine starts, but it resulted in a listed win and a group-placed finish.

Debut success

Born between Eartha Kitt and Arthur Kitt was Formidable Kitt (Invincible Spirit) and she enjoyed a juvenile debut success. At stud her first foal is a two-year-old colt, Farhhfromforgotten (Farhh), and he is followed by a pair of fillies, a yearling by Camelot (Montjeu) and a foal by Too Darn Hot (Dubawi).

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, and she has gone on to be a Group 1 producer.

Ceiling Kitty is the best winner so far from Baldovina (Tale Of The Cat) who was sold five years ago by Black at the Goffs London Sale to SackvilleDonald for £300,000. Her story is 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 oracle.

In Japan

Baldovina then headed to the paddocks where she is dam of five winners. She was the only offspring of the Group 3 Prix Penelope winner Baldwina (Pistolet Bleu) to be born in England.

Balwina was sold to Japan and her first produce there was 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). Both of these daughters are winner producers,

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