Ken and Sarah Ramsey | Horse Racing Free Tips

Judge Vacates Order To Sell Ramsey Horses At Keeneland; Owner Places Over $1 Million In Escrow For Ward Suit

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.

Fourteen Ramsey Horses Headed To January Sale Per Court Order In Ward Suit

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 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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Wesley Ward Asks Court To Allow Sale Of Ramsey Horses

Trainer Wesley Ward has filed a new motion in Jessamine County circuit court requesting that a judge allow the sale of 14 of Ken and Sarah Ramsey's horses to put toward unpaid training bills, reports bloodhorse.com. The legal dispute traces back to March of this year, when both Ward and trainer Mike Maker filed civil suits against the Ramseys for nearly $2 million in unpaid bills.

At that time, Ward also acquired agister's liens against Ramsey's horses, essentially giving him ownership of the horses for one year.

Ward and Ramsey had previously agreed to an arrangement in which Ramsey was to pay $100,000 per month until the debt was paid off, but the motion alleges that Ramsey only made one payment. Ward also alleges he told Ramsey he could race the horses and use any earnings toward that debt, but that Ramsey declined.

The 14 horses have continued to incur care costs of $1,500 per day.

“Rather than pay his debt to Ward Enterprises and take possession of his horses, Ramsey has instead chosen to publicly make false assertions against Ward Enterprises in a misguided attempt to trump up claims against Ward Enterprises,” the Dec. 1 motion states.

The new motion requests that the court require all 14 horses to be sold during the Keeneland January sale.

Maker, Ramsey Settle Civil Suit Over Unpaid Training Bills

Trainer Mike Maker and owner/breeders Ken and Sarah Ramsey have agreed to the dismissal of a civil case brought by Maker over unpaid training bills. Fayette Circuit Court Judge Julie Goodman entered the order dismissing the case with prejudice on Sept. 15 “pursuant to a settlement.”

The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Maker had brought suit in March against the Eclipse Award-winning couple in March, claiming the Ramseys had been delinquent in paying training bills to him for nearly four years and owed him $905,357.29 at the time of his filing.

“It's not that I'm not paying, it's just that I guess I'm not paying fast enough,” Ken Ramsey told the Paulick Report in March. “I have never beaten anybody out of a dime.”

A subsequent motion from Maker suggested the Ramseys paid the balance down after news of the suit broke, but did not keep to their own suggested payment schedule and eventually stopped sending checks. Ramsey disputed the arrangement the couple had with Maker regarding payments and the total amount owed.

Wesley Ward filed suit against the Ramseys around the same time, making similar allegations about delinquent payment and stating he was owed $974,790.40 in bills, interest, and purses. That case, filed in Jessamine Circuit Court, appears to still be open as of this writing.

Learn more about how and why trainers carry balances from owners in this March edition of The Friday Show.

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