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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 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 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.

Arrest Me Red Goes Gate To Wire In Aqueduct Turf Sprint Championship

Lael Stable's homebred Arrest Me Red made every pole a winning one, staving off an inside rally from Pulsate to prevail in Saturday's $150,000 Aqueduct Turf Sprint Championship at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

Trained by Wesley Ward, Arrest Me Red was scratched out of the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint on November 6 at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif., which was won by his stablemate Golden Pal. Re-routed to the Big A, the sophomore son of Pioneerof the Nile turned back older company with a game display in the six-furlong outer turf test.

“He did great. He ran very, very professional,” Ward said. “I just feel bad that he had a minor foot issue, otherwise he would have had a good run in the Breeders' Cup.”

Arrest Me Red, with Paco Lopez up, marked off splits of :22.69 and :45.60 over the firm going with defending race winner Turned Aside tracking in second and Backtohisroots pressing three-wide in third.

Pulsate, with Manny Franco up, settled into fourth position as Arrest Me Red took the field to the turn with Backtohisroots advancing with purpose. Arrest Me Red opened up a one-length lead at the stretch call and kicked for home with a ground-saving Pulsate trying to surge up the rail.

Lopez kept to task aboard Arrest Me Red and the talented bay held on for a neck win in a final time of 1:09.43. Pulsate completed the exacta by 1 3/4 lengths over the late-running Chewing Gum.

Lopez, aboard Arrest Me Red for the first time, said he was impressed by the colt's winning efforts in the Mahony in August at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and the G3 Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., last out on October 2.

“I saw his last couple races and knew he was fast,” Lopez said. “There wasn't much speed today. I broke and put my horse in the race and waited for competition. I saw the horse coming to the inside [Pulsate] and I put a little pressure. That horse is a very good horse. Wesley knows what he is doing.”

Franco said Pulsate, who he guided to victory in the Lucky Coin in September at the Spa, was timid when asked to pass along the hedge.

“I had the room to go through, but my horse just hesitated a little bit,” Franco said. “He was coming the last sixteenth of a mile. When I rode him to the wire, he responded to me. He just got a little bit tired. He ran well though.”

Backtohisroots, Value Proposition, Big Package, Maxwell Esquire, Omaha City, and Turned Aside completed the order of finish. Grateful Bred, who broke through the gate ahead of the race, was scratched.

Bred in Kentucky by his owners, Arrest Me Red banked $82,500 in victory while improving his record to five wins from seven starts. He paid $6.50 for a $2 win ticket.

Live racing resumes Sunday at the Big A with a 10-race card featuring the $150,000 Autumn Days in Race 7, the $200,000 G3 Fall Highweight in Race 8, and the $100,000 Tepin in Race 9. First post is 11:50 a.m. Eastern.

America's Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the fall meet at Aqueduct Racetrack on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Aqueduct Racetrack, and the best way to bet every race of the fall meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

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Scratched From Breeders’ Cup With Foot Abscess, Arrest Me Red Returns In Aqueduct Turf Sprint Championship

Trainer Wesley Ward said Lael Stables' Arrest Me Red will make his next start in the $150,000 Aqueduct Turf Sprint Championship at six furlongs for 3-year-olds and up on Nov. 27 at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Arrest Me Red was scratched out of the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint on Nov. 6 at Del Mar, which was won by the Ward-trained Golden Pal. Arrest Me Red breezed a half-mile in :48 flat Wednesday over the Keeneland main track.

“He had a little foot abscess issue we were dealing with out in California, so we erred on the side of caution and scratched him,” Ward said. “We brought him back and he's had a great work here at Keenland, so he should be ready to go.”

The Pioneerof the Nile sophomore joined Ward's stable for his 3-year-old campaign, winning the Mahony in August at 5 1/2-furlongs over firm footing at Saratoga Race Course. The talented bay followed with a gate-to-wire score in the six-furlong Grade 3 Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational over firm going on October 2 at Belmont Park.

Ward said Arrest Me Red had initially been under consideration for the Grade 2 Woodford at Keeneland before setting course for Belmont.

“He came back [from the Mahony] and had some nice works and we were going to go in the Woodford with him, but there was no sense in going against my other horse, Golden Pal, so we looked for another option and he ran and won nice,” Ward said.

Arrest Me Red made four starts in a juvenile campaign for his former conditioner Arnaud Delacour, posting a first-out maiden win at Laurel Park in August 2020 and a two-length score in the six-furlong Atlantic Beach last November over the Big A turf.

CJ Thoroughbreds' Miss Alacrity, a chestnut daughter of Munnings, will return to the main track in Sunday's $100,000 Key Cents, a six-furlong sprint for juvenile fillies at Aqueduct.

Out of the multiple graded-stakes winning Menifee mare Just Jenda, Miss Alacrity launched her career with a 10-length maiden win sprinting five furlongs over Big Sandy in May. She followed with an impressive score in the Colleen, a five-furlong turf test in August at Monmouth Park.

Last out, Miss Alacrity stumbled at the start of the Speakeasy, a five-furlong turf test on Oct. 1 at Santa Anita, and settled for fourth.

“I think she was soundly beaten. We went out there with her winning that race at Monmouth and we wanted to see where she was at. There were no excuses, she just got beat,” Ward said. “It was a credible race. She ran well but she just got beat by better horses on the day.”

Miss Alacrity will remove blinkers while retaining the services of Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez from the inside post in a loaded field that includes the well-regarded Classy Edition for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher and the speedy Makin My Move for conditioner John Kimmel.

“This time of year, I generally take the blinkers off of everything with 2-year-olds. It keeps them focused at the beginning of the year and now that they're older and more seasoned, I like to take the blinkers off to go a little further,” Ward said. “She should be more aware of her surroundings and a little more relaxed in the race with the blinkers off.”

Lyrical Poet, a 4-year-old Kitten's Joy gelding owned, bred and trained by Ward, posted a claiming score traveling 5 1/2-furlongs over the Saratoga turf in July.

He is out of the speedy Bring the Heat mare One Hot Wish, who won a pair of sprints for Ward led by an 8 ½-length allowance romp at Gulfstream Park in 2008 that garnered a 91 Beyer.

Lyrical Poet was last seen finishing second in September in a Kentucky Downs turf allowance sprint won by Rustler, who exited that effort to win the Carle Place in October at Belmont.

Lyrical Poet breezed five-furlongs in 1:00.80 on Nov. 16 over the Keeneland main track in preparation for Race 2 on Saturday at the Big A, a six-furlong starter allowance on the turf for 3-year-olds and up.

“He's training good. I've taken my time with him. Kitten's Joys take a little time to get going and he was a late foal,” Ward said. “I own him so I can afford the time I think they need and he's rewarding that patience now. His dam was very fast.”

Listed at 3-1 on the morning line, Lyrical Poet will exit post 7 under Irad Ortiz, Jr.

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