Ken Ramsey | Horse Racing Free Tips

Report: Owner/Breeder Sarah Ramsey Passes Away

Sarah Ramsey, who partnered with her husband Ken to become one of the leading owners in the sport, passed away Sunday at the family's Ramsey Farm, the Blood-Horse has reported. She was 83.

Sarah Ramsey was a native of Artemus, Kentucky, and often went by the nickname Kitten. Originally, the Ramsey horses raced separately, under Sarah or Ken's name. Her first horse was Kitten's First and the best horse ever campaigned by the Ramseys was Kitten's Joy, the 2004 Eclipse Award male turf winner. That year, the Ramseys also won the Eclipse Award for the sport's top owner.

The couple dabbled in ownership starting in the sixties before greatly expanding their operation in 1994 when purchasing the former Almahurst Farm, renamed Ramsey Farm. They got into horse ownership and breeding after investing in the nascent cell phone business. They sold their cell phone franchise for $39 million.

The Ramsey operation, which has been downscaled since its prime, remained atop the sport for nearly two decades. They also won the Eclipse Award for top owner in 2011, 2013 and 2014. They hold the record at Churchill Downs for most leading owner titles in the history of the track, with 28 titles, and the record at Keeneland, with 18.

In 2007, Sarah Ramsey suffered a stroke and was wheelchair-bound for the rest of her life.

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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.

Judge Rules that Ward Can Sell Ramsey Horses at Keeneland January

Jessamine (Ky.) County Circuit Court Judge Hunter Daugherty ruled Thursday that trainer Wesley Ward can sell 14 horses owned by Ken and Sarah Ramsey at the Keeneland January Sale in order to cover what Ward alleges are unpaid training bills. Ward has maintained the he is owed nearly $1 million by the Ramseys.

The story was first reported by the BloodHorse.

“Unfortunately, it has come down to this,” Ward said. “Mr. Ramsey has been a big part of my success. We've won over $10 million in purses and 250 races and I have raced for him in five different countries. He's a great guy and for whatever reason things went sideways. I'm just glad that this is about to come to an end. I hope that someday I will be able to shake his hand. I don't know how things to got to this point, but I have nothing bad to say about Mr. Ramsey.”

The horses are scheduled to be sold Jan. 13.

Daugherty was ruling on a Dec. 2 motion in which Ward requested permission to sell the horses in question. Ward's lawyers argue that the sale of the horses became necessary only after all other efforts to collect the money from Ramsey had failed. Because Ward's dispute with Ramsey, who has denied owing Ward the money, is ongoing, the proceeds from the sale will be held in escrow pending a full resolution of the matter.

On Mar. 19, Ward sued Ramsey for unpaid bills. According to court filings, Ramsey acknowledged the debt and agreed to pay Ward $100,000 per month until it was paid off. But he made just one payment.

In a Dec. 7 counterclaim, Ramsey argued that he did not in fact owe Ward the money because Ward wasn't fulfilling his duties as a trainer. The allegations made against Ward included breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duties, breach of good faith and fair dealing, and unjust enrichment

None of the Ward-Ramsey horses have started since July, which Ramsey says prevented him from earning any purse money with the 14. Ward said the horses have not run because Ramsey would not allow them to be entered. Ward said he had hoped that the horses could continue running and that their earnings could be used to pay off the debt.

“We have now learned that Ward was not looking out for our best interest or the best interest of our horses,” Ramsey charged. “In many instances we are learning he was not training our horses and certainly not training them to the standards of the industry for Thoroughbred training and race preparation.”

“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,” Ward's legal team countered.

The list of horses scheduled to be sold is headed by Artie's Princess (We Miss Artie), winner of the GII Bessarabian S. at Woodbine in 2020 and the champion female sprinter in Canada last year. The list also includes gelding Ramsey Solution (Real Solution), winner of the Tapit S. at Kentucky Downs; and Chasing Artie (We Miss Artie), the winner of the Palisades Turf Sprint S. and the My Frenchman S. Four other older horses will be sold: Train to Artemus (Tapizar), Royal Kitten (Kitten's Joy), Bitten by Kitten (Kitten's Joy) and Casanova Kitten (Kitten's Joy).

Seven unraced 2-year-olds will also be sold. They are Economic Hangover (We Miss Artie), Frosty Paws (Frosted), Gambling Tzar (Tapizar), Parents Pride (Maclean's Music), Pillbox (We Miss Artie), Plan of the Day (Maclean's Music) and Profit Hunter (We Miss Artie).

“We were willing to help facilitate the process,” Keeneland Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy said. “We have been watching the developments so we would have room to offer them if necessary, and the ruling came down today. We are able to make them available to be offered on the last day of the sale, which is Jan. 13.”

Ward said he has been training the horses with the sale in mind.

“They're either breezing tomorrow or the next day,” he said. “We're ready to go so that we can show all the potential buyers that the horses are in good shape and are fit and fresh. They will have ample works going into the sale.”

Ward expects that the total proceeds from the sale will exceed the $1 million he says he is owed.

“I'm hoping Mr. Ramsey makes a bunch of money here,” he said. “Hopefully he will make much more than what his costs are.”

Trainer Mike Maker has had similar problems with Ramsey and at one point this year claimed he was owed more than $900,000 in unpaid bills. Ramsey and Maker have since reached a settlement.

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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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