By Patrycja Szpyra
He was named in honor of a legend and Keeneland has become the latest stepping stone to creating his own.
Remember Mamba (Kitten's Joy) showed all the telltale signs of inexperience late, but his turn of foot was more than enough to run down the leaders and claim the GIII UK Healthcare Transylvania Stakes on opening Friday at Keeneland.
Debuted at this venue last October going long on the grass, he produced an eye-catching rally where he sailed home by 4 1/2 lengths best and earned 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' honors in the process. Gone until Jan. 22 at Fair Grounds to mark his seasonal bow, the Cherie DeVaux trainee faced optional claiming company for the first time but was cut back to the mile. It didn't matter in the slightest for him as Remember Mamba fired off that patented turn of foot and once again dominated by 3 1/4 lengths.
In no rush after the jump here, and able to avoid the jostling heading into the first turn, the 2-1 favorite watched the action unfold from the fence in seventh as Street Beast (Street Sense) ambled along through an opening quarter in :23.20 and a half-mile in :48.28 with Honey Dutch (Knicks Go) in striking range the entire way. Trapped along the fence as the field closed ranks going into the final bend, he had Aces Honor (Code of Honor) to his outside and Attfield (Vekoma) in front of him, but still time to find space.
Inching forward after six panels in 1:13.72, Remember Mamba was 10 lengths behind the dueling leaders when they swung for home and had to muscle Aces Honor out to find room. Weaving greenly as Vasy (Ire) (Space Blues {Ire}) was the looming danger on the grandstand side, the son of the late Kitten's Joy uncorked a powerful rally from that overland trip inside the final sixteenth. Rolling furiously into the closing yards, he overhauled a game Honey Dutch in the final strides to win by a widening half-length. Vasy managed to grab third after not being able to match strides with Remember Mamba.
“To be honest, I saw his first two races but from Los Angeles so I didn't have any idea,” said C R K Stable's Lee Searing. “[I thought], 'OK, we got a front-running horse, or what have we got?' And then he didn't break that good and at the top of the stretch he wasn't there for a minute, then all of a sudden here he comes. I was looking at the first finish line, not the second finish line, so I thought we ran a really nice third.”
When asked about the colt's name, Searing said, “Out of high school, I followed Kobe [Bryant] and when he signed with the Lakers, we started going to every Lakers game. We followed that for 10 years or so, saw his big games, saw his last game. I've never really met him, but I've named three or four horses with that connotation in it. This one looks like a really nice horse, and what a perfect name for the horse.”
“We had this race targeted,” said DeVaux after the race. “He's a colt that acts like the more distance, the better, so really bigger races for him are in the summer. Most definitely [we'll be looking for longer ground].”
#7 REMEMBER MAMBA and @jose93_ortiz powered home in the $600,000 Transylvania Stakes (G3) at @keeneland. The 3-year-old son of Kittens Joy is trained by @reredevaux. @StablesCrk owns. pic.twitter.com/gmOXeFVxVi
— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) April 3, 2026
The result here also flatters Reagan's Honor (Honor A.P.) in Saturday's GI Toyota Blue Grass Stakes as he is a frequent workmate for Remember Mamba. They most recently worked together Mar. 28 over the Keeneland main track, both finishing four furlongs in :48 flat (11/64), in preparation for their respective races this weekend.
Pedigree Note:
Remember Mamba is out of a winning half-sister to SW Plentiful (Harlan's Holiday), and who claims three other siblings to have visited the winner's enclosure on several occasions. The female line of GSW & MGISP Spring Meadow (Meadowlake) has also yielded MSP Clouseau (Distorted Humor).
Dam Gizmo (Uncle Mo) has only produced two offspring of racing age thus far, and this Transylvania victor is her first black-type runner. Her most recent is a yearling filly by McKinzie and she is due to Practical Joke this spring.
Friday, Keeneland
UK HEALTHCARE TRANSYLVANIA S.-GIII, $589,500, Keeneland, 4-3, 3yo, 1 1/16mT, 1:44.49, gd.
1–REMEMBER MAMBA, 118, c, 3, by Kitten's Joy
1st Dam: Gizmo, by Uncle Mo
2nd Dam: Spring Street, by Street Cry (Ire)
3rd Dam: Spring Meadow, by Meadowlake
'TDN Rising Star'. 1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($270,000 Ylg '24 KEESEP). O-C R K Stable, LLC; B-Burning Daylight Farms, Inc & November Hill, Inc. (KY); T-Cherie DeVaux; J-Jose L. Ortiz. $344,100. Lifetime Record: 3-3-0-0, $439,333. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus* Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Honey Dutch, 118, c, 3, Knicks Go–Ms V Time, by Tiznow. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($33,000 Wlg '23 KEENOV). O-Legion Racing and Awestrike Racing; B-Matt Montgomery (KY); T-D. Whitworth Beckman. $111,000.
3–Vasy (Ire), 118, c, 3, Space Blues (Ire)–Beautiful Ending (GB), by Exceed And Excel (Aus). 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. (€75,000 Wlg '23 GOFNOF; 75,000gns Ylg '24 TATOCT; €115,000 2yo '25 TATBRU). O-JDT Racing LLC; B-Mr Gary Mullins (IRE); T-Brendan P. Walsh. $46,250.
Margins: HF, NK, NK. Odds: 2.44, 13.15, 3.99.
Also Ran: Street Beast, Time for America, Noble Dynasty, Proton, Zeppelin, Attfield, Ganaas, Aces Honor. Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
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