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Maker Files New Motion In Civil Case Against Ramseys, Alleges Payments Have Stopped

Trainer Mike Maker filed a motion for summary judgment against multiple Eclipse Award-winning owner/breeders Ken and Sarah Ramsey in Kentucky's Fayette Circuit Court on July 14, alleging that the couple have once again stopped paying their training bills.

Maker brought suit against the Ramseys in March 2021, alleging he was owed $905,357.29, which at the time was an improvement on the $1.25 million he had been owed in summer 2020. Ken Ramsey told this and other publications at the time of the filing that he expected to reach an agreement with Maker to finish paying off the bills and convince the trainer to drop the suit.

According to an affidavit filed by attorney Tyler Powell, Maker said Ramsey offered to pay $100,000 or more to him on or before the 15th of each month — and for a while, he did. Maker notes payments of $127,531.70 in March, $131, 290 in April, and $160,000 in May. After that, however, Maker said the payments stopped. In the meantime, the horses the Ramseys still had in Maker's barn continued running up bills in March and April, eroding some of his progress on the outstanding balance. Maker says the Ramseys now owe $505,385.92, and that figure doesn't include attorneys' fees associated with pursuing the outstanding balance.

Maker had filed UCC-1 financing statements with the Kentucky Secretary of State around the time he filed his civil suit, placing liens on the 27 horses he still had in his care at the time. His July 14 motion states he no longer has Ramsey horses in his barn.

The motion filed this week points out that Ken Ramsey hasn't contested that he owes the money.

“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 2021. “I have never beaten anybody out of a dime.”

Maker requests a summary judgment from the court against the couple, and that motion is scheduled to be heard at the end of the month.

Trainer Wesley Ward also filed suit against the couple in March 2021, claiming he was owed $974,790.40 in unpaid training bills, his portion of purses, and interest. Ward placed liens on 44 horses in his care at the time he brought his civil suit. That case also remains open in Jessamine Circuit Court.

The Ramseys have won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Owner four times (2004, 2011, 2013, and 2014) and the award for Outstanding Breeder twice (2013 and 2014). Since 2000, Equibase reports the couple has won 2,223 races from 9,814 starts for total earnings of more than $98 million. Their annual earnings have fallen from their peak in 2013 of over $12 million, and last year the stable brought in $2.3 million from 274 starts. Their Ramsey Farm in Nicholasville, Ky., was the longtime base for the operation's homebred and centerpiece stallion, Kitten's Joy, who relocated to Hill 'n' Dale in 2018.

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Ramseys Hit With Two Civil Suits Seeking Nearly $2 Million In Unpaid Training Bills

Multiple Eclipse Award-winning owner/breeders Ken and Sarah Ramsey have been hit with a second lawsuit from one of their trainers while in the process of settling a separate suit filed last week by another. Wesley Ward filed suit against the Ramseys in Jessamine County Circuit Court March 19, while Mike Maker filed suit in Fayette Circuit Court a week earlier. Each case centers around just under $1 million in delinquent training bills.

Ward alleges that the Ramseys owe $974,790.40 in unpaid training bills, trainer's portion of winning purses, and interest. Invoices attached to Ward's suit show balances stretching back to June 2020. Although Ward concedes Ramsey has made payments in the months since, with one $50,000 payment days before the lawsuit was filed, the balance has remained in the high six figures throughout that period as training bills continue to mount.

Maker's suit alleges the Ramseys have been delinquent on training bills in his case for “almost four years” and their current balance owed to him is $905,357.29 – down from the $1.25 million they owed last summer. Maker's suit stated the couple promised to pay him in full by the end of 2020, but that did not happen. According to the complaint, Maker said $543,597.26 is more than 90 days past due.

When reached by phone last week, Ramsey said he was surprised to learn Maker had filed suit against him and was eager to work out a deal to pay Maker in full in exchange for the suit being withdrawn. As of press time, Maker's suit remained open per digital court records.

“I thought we had things worked out and I thought I had a schedule to get things worked out on,” said Ramsey, citing his long-standing relationship with the trainer. “I'm shocked. I didn't think he'd file a lawsuit because my assets well exceed what I owe him, by far.

“It's not that I'm not paying, it's just that I guess I'm not paying fast enough. I have never beaten anybody out of a dime.”

Ward and Maker both filed UCC-1 financing statements with the Kentucky Secretary of State to create liens against the horses which had racked up the unpaid invoices. Maker placed liens on 27 horses, while Ward placed liens on a separate group of 44 horses. Both trainers have had some of those horses leave their possession through retirement or claiming, with Maker down to just three still in his barn: Artie's Rose, Risk Manager, and Telephone Talker. Ward's suit seeks a court order to sell the horses named in his lien, with proceeds being applied to the unpaid balance, as well as any ongoing expenses from his day rate of $110.

The Ramseys have won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Owner four times (2004, 2011, 2013, and 2014) and the award for Outstanding Breeder twice (2013 and 2014). Since 2000, Equibase reports the couple has won 2,217 races from 9,790 starts for total earnings of more than $97 million. Their annual earnings have fallen from their peak in 2013 of over $12 million, and last year the stable brought in $2.3 million from 274 starts. Their Ramsey Farm in Nicholasville, Ky., was the longtime base for the operation's homebred and centerpiece stallion, Kitten's Joy, who relocated to Hill 'n' Dale in 2018.

Last year, Maker was also one in a long line of horsemen who were carrying outstanding balances by Zayat Stables. Ahmed Zayat filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in September 2020, listing an outstanding balance of $120,921.88 to Mike Maker among other creditors.

Maker trained a number of the Ramseys' graded stakes winners, including Vicar's In Trouble, International Star, Oscar Nominated, Admiral Kitten, Al's Gal, Kitten's Dumplings, Furthest Land, and Shining Copper.

Ward has trained graded stakes winners Artie's Princess, Emotional Kitten, Holiday for Kitten, and Pleasant Prince for the Ramseys. Ward was also tasked with accomplishing Ramsey's goal of getting a winner at Royal Ascot, which Ramsey has yet to attain.

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Road To The Top For Kitten’s Joy Could Have Had Several Off-Ramps

Any stallion requires a series of fortunate – and downright lucky – bounces to become a major player, but the ones that led Kitten's Joy to the top of the North American sire list were the kind that could have derailed his entire stud career as we know it.

In a piece for Thoroughbred Owner Breeder, Nancy Sexton detailed some of those crucial decisions, some of which spanned back to before the stallion was born.

The first of those crossroads came during the racing career of his dam, Kitten's First, whom owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey purchased as a yearling. She raced just twice, having broken her hip in the Junior Champion Stakes at Monmouth Park as a 2-year-old. Ramsey told Sexton that the veterinarian wanted to euthanize the filly once she got back to the barn, but Tom Albertrani, then an assistant to Kitten's First's trainer Bill Mott, was able to get her to stand, and she cooperated with recovery efforts from there, eventually joining Ramsey's broodmare band.

The next turning point came prior to Kitten's Joy's retirement, when the Ramseys were being heavily courted by Japanese buyers to sell turf champion Kitten's Joy and Dubai World Cup winner Roses in May. Ken Ramsey wanted to sell just one of the two, ultimately deciding on Roses in May and altering the North American stud book for decades to come.

One more potential off-ramp came recently when Ken Ramsey became dissatisfied with the stallion's commercial reception by North American buyers and shopped him out to stand at European farms. Ramsey said a deal was made to send Kitten's Joy to stand in England, but a last-minute intervention from his family led him to keep the stallion stateside.

Kitten's Joy moved from Ramsey Farm to Hill 'n' Dale Farms in 2018, and he stood the most recent breeding season for $75,000.

Read more at Thoroughbred Owner Breeder.

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