A judge in Jessamine County Circuit Court has reversed his order to send 14 horses owned by Ken and Sarah Ramsey to the Keeneland January sale, reports bloodhorse.com, as part of an ongoing lawsuit by the couple's longtime trainer, Wesley Ward. Instead, the judge has allowed Ramsey to place $1,014,614.96 into escrow as security.
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 in early December 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.
Ramsey's attorney filed an emergency motion one day after the 14 were supplemented to the Keeneland January sale, requesting the judge vacate his order for sale, on the basis that the sale would cause “permanent and irreparable damage to Defendants that will not be made whole by mere money.”
“Following entry of the Court's order of sale, the supplement to the Keeneland January 2021 Horses of All Ages Sale has been released. It does not include the horses which are the subject of the Court's order of sale, which means the horses, their pedigrees, and past performances will not appear either in the catalog or the supplement for the sale,” the emergency order stated. “As a result, permitting the horses to be sold under such circumstances will cause substantial damages to Defendants.”
Ramsey's attorney Mike Meuser told bloodhorse.com that all 14 horses will be sent to another trainer in Florida.
Read more at bloodhorse.com.
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