A judge in Jessamine County Circuit Court has ordered 14 horses owned by Ken and Sarah Ramsey to head to auction as part of an ongoing lawsuit by the couple's longtime trainer, Wesley Ward. The horses are in Ward's possession at Turfway Park and are bound for the Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale, with the sale proceeds to be held in escrow until the lawsuit is resolved.
Ward brought suit against the Ramseys for unpaid bills in March of this year, claiming he was owed $974,790.40, which included training bills, purses, and interest. Around the same time, trainer Mike Maker also sued the couple for $905,357.29 in unpaid bills. Maker settled his case in September, with the terms of settlement undisclosed.
Ward had filed a motion last week seeking to be allowed to sell the horses, pointing out that he had filed agister's liens on them and obtained a warrant enforcing those liens. In March, Ward secured liens against a total of 44 Ramsey horses who contributed to the outstanding bills. According to court documents, Ward has sold a number of the horses who racked up the bills at public auction or via claiming and the 14 that remain are the only ones Ward still has in his barn.
Ward's motion from Dec. 1 indicated that at some point, Ramsey agreed to pay the trainer $100,000 per month until the bill was satisfied, but he only made one such payment after news of the case broke in the media.
Ward and Ramsey disagree about what has happened in the horses' management since the lawsuit was filed. Ward said he offered to race the horses with a deal to let them generate purses to pay off the debt, but Ramsey wouldn't let him race the horses.
Ramsey claims that Ward has not been training the horses in the intervening months, although he has been charging full day rates while simply boarding the horses. Ramsey filed an eight-count counterclaim against Ward Dec. 7 claiming conversion, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duties, breach of good faith and fair dealing, unjust enrichment, among other charges. He also objected to Ward's motion regarding the sale of the horses, claiming the horses couldn't be sold to satisfy a debt until there was a judgment for that debt.
In one filing, Ramsey demanded Ward return the Jockey Club foal registration papers for the horses in his possession and said there was more than $500,000 being held in escrow for Ward after the November sales of several Ramsey horses. Further, Ramsey complained that Ward's unwillingness to have the horses in full training would hurt their value. In the couple's counterclaim, Ken Ramsey described himself as having “been a licensed trainer” and claims Ward still owes him for a breeding to Ramsey stallion Kitten's Joy in 2020.
(Ramsey does not appear to have a record in Equibase of saddling any starters as a trainer since the start of the company's digital database in 1976.)
Ward, for his part, told The Blood-Horse he has had the horses in training, but that Ramsey declined to allow him to run the horses and he didn't feel it was safe to have them in high speed work as they wait for the case to play out. He also said he had video recordings to support his training records. The two sides don't appear to agree on the amount of Ramsey's outstanding balance with Ward.
The horses include Artie's Princess, Bitten by Kitten, Casanova Kitten, Chasing Artie, Economic Hangover, Frosty Paws, Gambling Tzar, Parents Pride, Pillbox, Plan of the Day, Profit Hunter, Ramsey Solution, Royal Kitten, and Train to Artemus.
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