Ken Ramsey | Horse Racing Free Tips

The Friday Show Presented By Diamond B Farm’s Rowayton: Ponying Up

Trainers Mike Maker and Wesley Ward aren't the only horsemen who have encountered Thoroughbred owners who have been slow to pay their bills. In their cases, the two trainers filed suit against owners Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey alleging nearly $1 million was owned to each of them for past due training bills and purse earnings. Ken Ramsey has said he'll make good on both cases and that the lawsuits will be dropped.

In the case of Ahmed Zayat and his family's Zayat Stables – now going through bankruptcy – a host of trainers and other businesses are owed a significant amount of money.

It begs the question of how many other trainers have had to “carry” owners for extended periods of time, negotiate fees after the fact or put liens on bloodstock in order to get paid.

Watch this week's Friday Show for a discussion on this subject with Ray Paulick and Paulick Report editor in chief Natalie Voss. Bloodstock editor Joe Nevills joins the show for a retrospective on the late Sheikh Hamdan of Shadwell Stables, a Toast to Vino Rosso and some news about a new product coming next week that covers the auction front.

The post The Friday Show Presented By Diamond B Farm’s Rowayton: Ponying Up appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Canterbury VP Andrew Offerman Joins Writers’ Room

With smaller tracks gradually disappearing over time, it takes a concerted effort to build a fan customer base that can sustain your business in a non-marquee racing state. Minnesota's Canterbury Park is one of those outliers, a track whose management has put in the work to run a profitable enterprise while managing to attract novice fans and satisfy horseplayers alike, all without the buttressing revenue of slots.

Wednesday morning, Canterbury's VP of Racing Operations Andrew Offerman joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland to talk about the track's blueprint for standing out on a lesser circuit. Calling in as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Offerman discussed the track's decision to drop its Pick 5 takeout to an industry-low 10%, what it's trying to do to attract new owners and trainers and how to still bring fans to the track in 2021.

“We've had a couple different forays into takeout reduction,” Offerman said regarding the successful Pick 5 experiment. “We did some more across-the-board cuts a few years ago, and that didn't work as well as the Pick 5 takeout reduction did. Last year, when we were kind of forced to change our business strategy from being really on-track centric to trying to focus more on off-track betting markets, we knew we had to do something to become more attractive, beyond just running through the middle of the week. So looking at our Pick 5 and trying to do something unique with that wager as it continues to grow in popularity seemed like a good opportunity. The results were great. It enhanced our visibility, did a lot for our other pools around those races and really showed us a new ability to generate interest in a pool that ended up averaging around $80,000, which for us is pretty substantial.”

Faced with the difficulty of drawing owners, trainers and horses to a relatively remote part of the country, Offerman laid out some new incentive programs Canterbury is trying out for the 2021 meet, which starts May 18.

“We've always tried to come up with unique things,” he said. “We realized that when you look at the normal areas that race across the country, Minnesota's not necessarily on their map. So we came up with an early-meet incentive program that gives everyone who starts in an open overnight race an extra $1,000 throughout the month of May to try to help offset the costs of shipping, because we acknowledge that most people have a long van ride to get here from wherever they might be during the winter. We also guarantee stipends per starter over the course of the meet. It's tiered by purse level, but starts at $200 and works its way up from there. We've also been able to offer an interest-free loan program for qualified applicants where people can basically sign a zero-interest shipping loan that they can pay back over the course of the summer.”

Elsewhere in the podcast, the writers responded to the reaction from Bill Finley's critical op/ed about horsemen's groups' suit over HISA, and, in the West Point Thoroughbreds news segment, analyzed the delinquent Ramseys story and positive returns from OBS March. Click here to watch the podcast; click here for the audio-only version.

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Two Trainers Sue Ramseys for Nearly $2 Million in Unpaid Bills

Trainers Wesley Ward and Mike Maker have filed separate lawsuits against owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey over unpaid training bills. Ward is alleging that the Ramseys piled up unpaid bills totaling $974,790. Maker claims the Ramseys owe him $905,357. The story was first reported in Paulick Report.

Ward's suit was filed last week in Jessamine Circuit Court. The Maker suit was filed a week earlier in Fayette Circuit Court.

When reached Monday by the TDN, Ken Ramsey admitted that he owes both trainers a considerable amount of money.

“The root of my problem is the fact that I bought three big horse farms over the last two years and I have a cash flow problem,” Ramsey said. “My net worth is better now than it's ever been. Overall, I am good. However, I have been delinquent and I'm not making light of the fact that I do owe these two trainers. These are the only two trainers I have left and every trainer I have ever had, over 50 of them, have all been paid in full. I never beat any of them out of anything whatsoever.”

Ramsey said that he will take out loans, using the collateral he has built up in the horse farms and other properties, and use the proceeds to pay off Maker and Ward.

“I thought I could ride this out,” he said. “I am embarrassed by this and hurt by this.”

According to Ward's filing, the Ramseys have been making regular monthly payments, but did not pay enough to keep the balance owed from escalating. In February alone, Ward billed the Ramseys for $98,657.40 for care of 30 horses. Ward lists 45 horses that he trained for the Ramseys from June, 2020 to the present. Due to being claimed or other factors, not all remain in Ward's care.

Ward is asking the court to order the Sheriff of Jessamine County to sell the Ramsey horses, with the net proceeds going to Ward to help pay off the debt.

Maker contends that a debt of $543,597 is more than 90 days overdue and that the Ramseys have been delinquent when it comes to paying their bills for about four years. Like Ward, he will seek to be repaid in part by the sale of the Ramsey horses. However, only three Ramsey horses remain in his barn and their combined value falls way short of $905,357.

The Ramseys have cut back on their stable after peaking in 2013 with 230 wins. According to Equibase, they have run 38 horses so far this year with five wins for earnings of $112,115. Four of the wins came in lower level maiden claiming races at Turfway Park. They have used numerous trainers over the years, but all of their 2021 starters were trained by either Ward or Maker.

The Ramseys have won the Eclipse Award as the nation's outstanding owner four times, in 2004, 2011, 2013 and 2014. They were named outstanding breeder in 2013 and 2014. Their best horse was Kitten's Joy, who earned over $2 million. He became a standout sire for the Ramseys, who stood him at their Nicholasville, Ky. Farm until he was relocated to Hill 'n' Dale in 2018.

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