Wesley Ward | Horse Racing Free Tips

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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Like The King Stays On Turf, Takes On Brown Pair In Saranac

Kentucky Derby-participant Like the King has continued to acclimate to a surface change in his last two starts and will now look to become a duel-surface graded stakes-winner as he headlines a six-horse field of 3-year-olds in Saturday's Grade 3, $200,000 Saranac at 1 1/16 miles on Saratoga Race Course's inner turf.

The 114th running of the Saranac, slated as Race 8 on the 12-race card, will be part of a packed day that includes the Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold up for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/4 miles in a “Win and You're In” qualifier to the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic in November at Del Mar; the Grade 1, $600,000 Flower Bowl for older fillies and mares going 1 3/8 miles on the turf [“Win and You're In” for Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf; and the Grade 3, $250,000 Prioress for 3-year-old fillies sprinting six furlongs. First post will be 12:35 p.m. Eastern.

M Racing Group's Like the King earned a spot in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby by capturing the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks in March over Turfway Park's all-weather track. Trainer Wesley Ward took a shot with the Palace Malice colt in the “Run for the Roses,” as Like the King finished 12th in the 19-horse field on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs.

Ward then switched Like the King to turf, where he ran fifth in the Audubon going 1 1/8 miles on May 29 at Churchill Downs in his first attempt. He improved next out going the same distance, finishing second, one length behind Yes This Time, in the Grade 3 Kent on July 3 at Delaware Park.

“He earned his way in there,” Ward said about the Kentucky Derby. “I kind of thought at least going into the race, he comes from behind and you never know what happens when you have horses that make one big run. We knew we were overmatched looking at his odds and all that. Unfortunately, we were beaten on the square by better horses, but I thought his future was going to be on the grass.”

Like the King continued to train at Keeneland before shipping to Saratoga for his first start at the historic track, posting a bullet five-furlong breeze in 59.80 seconds on August 30 over the main track.

Hall of Famer John Velazquez will ride, departing from post 2.

Chad Brown, who is looking to secure his fourth Saratoga training title for a meet that concludes on Monday, will send out two contenders who will look to boost his win total.

Klaravich Stables' Public Sector will look for his second graded stakes win of the meet after tallying a one-length score in the Grade 2 Hall of Fame on August 6. The British-bred son of Kingman has only failed to come in first or second once in seven career starts, when capping his 2-year-old campaign with a 12th-place effort in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf in November at Keeneland.

Public Sector has started his sophomore year with two wins and two seconds, including a runner-up in the Manila on July 4 at Belmont before his Saratoga triumph last month under jockey Flavien Prat, who helped Public Sector adapt to a moderate pace before coaxing a strong turn-of-foot in powering home a winner over Annex.

On Saturday, Irad Ortiz, Jr., the winner of the last three Eclipse Awards for Outstanding Rider, will pick up the mount and break from the inside post.

“It really was a great ride last out by Flavien,” Brown said. “He continues to improve and develop into a real top horse, so hopefully it's another step forward again.”

Jeff Drown and Don Rachel's Founder is also a last-out stakes winner, posting a 1 1/4-length victory in the Tale of the Cat going 1 1/16 miles on July 31 at Monmouth Park. The stakes win marked Founder's second career turf start, with his first foray on the grass a sixth-place effort against optional claimers on June 4 at Belmont.

The Upstart ridgling's next attempt on turf was thwarted when rained forced his July 3 start to a sloppy and sealed main track, where Founder still ran second before his breakthrough in the Tale of the Cat over firm going.

“He's really improving. I think he's found a nice new path on the turf,” Brown said. “Hopefully, he's another one that continues to improve.”

Jose Ortiz will be in the irons from post 5 for Founder, a $600,000 purchase at the 2020 OBS Sale.

“Observing his training and with his turf breeding on the bottom, we thought we'd give it a shot and so far, it's worked out,” Brown said.
Founder is out of the Bernstein mare Blue Beryl, who graduated on debut on the Belmont turf in 2015.

Brown also has Risk Taking, eighth in the Grade 1 Preakness in May at Pimlico, entered for the main track only.

Repole Stable's lightly raced Never Surprised went 2-for-2 as a juvenile, winning his debut on November 8 at the Big A before capturing the Central Park later that month at the same track. After running second in his 2021 bow in the Grade 3 Kitten's Joy in January at Gulfstream Park, Never Surprised will be making his first start off a seven-month layoff for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher.

A son of Constitution, Never Surprised was purchased for $200,000 at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Meet-leading rider Luis Saez will pick up the mount for the first time, drawing post 4.

Roseland Farm Stable's He'spuregold will put his two-race winning streak on the line, making his first Saratoga start off victories at Monmouth, including a last-out one-length score in the Irish War Cry Handicap on July 24 going one mile.

Trainer Kelly Breen saw He'spuregold earn a personal-best 81 Beyer Speed Figure for his last-out win. Overall, the gelded son of Vancouver is 2-2-3 in eight career starts. Ricardo Santana, Jr. will have the call from post 3.

Rounding out the field is Mohs, who will graduate to stakes company for the first time after notching two wins in six career starts for trainer Patrick McBurney. Tyler Gaffalione will pick up the mount, breaking from post 6.

Saratoga Live will present daily television coverage of the 40-day summer meet on FOX Sports. For the complete Saratoga Live broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

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After Overseas Disappointment, Ward-Trained Golden Pal Targeting Breeders’ Cup Return

Winner of last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint and heralded by trainer Wesley Ward as one of the best he's ever trained, Golden Pal was disappointing last out when seventh in the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes at York.

Ward told At The Races that the race may have come up too quickly for the 3-year-old son of Uncle Mo; the Nunthorpe on Aug. 20 came a little over a month after Golden Pal's winning 2021 debut in the G3 Quick Call Stakes at Saratoga on July 15.

“Every trainer is different, but historically for me, when I bring a horse back from a long lay-off and they run a big race like he did at Saratoga, they need a little bit more time before they run again,” Ward told ATR. “Every horse is different and this horse trained beautiful going into it and came out of the race beautiful, so I think it was just a question of it kind of zapped him from the inside, that first big race he had (at Saratoga).”

Now, Golden Pal will be aimed at a return to the Breeders' Cup World Championships, to be held this November at Del Mar. Ward has yet to decide whether the Coolmore-owned colt will have a prep race prior to this year's Turf Sprint, but if he does, it could come at his home track: Keeneland's G2 Woodford Stakes on Oct. 9 is the most likely option.

Maven Heads Lucky Coin Field On Friday Card At Saratoga

Richard Ravin's Group 3-winner winner Maven headlines Friday's $120,000 Lucky Coin at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Trained by Wesley Ward, Maven enters the Lucky Coin, a 5 1/2-furlong Mellon turf sprint for older horses who have not won a stakes this year, from an off-the-board effort in the Group 1 King's Stand on June 15 at Ascot.

The 4-year-old American Pharoah chestnut has been a boom-or-bust proposition with four wins and four off-the-board efforts from eight starts. As a 2-year-old, Maven graduated on debut on the main track at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y., in April 2019 and two months later shipped to France and captured the Group 3 Prix du Bois traveling five furlongs on the Chantilly turf.

Last year, Maven won a turf allowance sprint at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky., but finished off-the-board in the Mahony at Saratoga and the Grade 3 Franklin-Simpson at Kentucky Downs.

“He didn't really run too well at Saratoga, but he may have been on a bit of a downward spiral then,” Ward said. “We gelded him last year [in October] and at the time that we gelded him, it was getting to be the fall of the year and I didn't really want to take him down to Florida so we just gave him the extra time. He had no issues. He just ran a couple of poor races.”

Maven kicked off his 4-year-old campaign with an allowance score on the Keeneland turf in April that garnered a career-best 104 Beyer Speed Figure before shipping overseas and finishing 11th in the five-furlong King's Stand under Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez.

“We brought him back in the spring and he was a little short going into his first race. He really amazed me how he just exploded that day to the front like he does,” Ward said. “Turning for home, I was expecting him to stop and he just kind of re-broke, and he really wasn't ready. So, that's what inspired me to take him over to Royal Ascot at a distance that I thought would be just awesome for him, five-eighths, off the big numbers he got off his Keeneland run.

“It was good spacing and everything you want to see. I had my rider, Johnny, on him that won on him,” Ward continued. “He broke and kind of sprinted out there and when the running started, he just didn't have it. I'm not sure if this is a horse that is just a horse-for-course or if he can take his show on the road. That's a little bit of a question mark. That said, he's training really, really well right now.”

Velazquez will pilot Maven from the outermost post 8.

Marc Keller's Pulsate, a 5-year-old Speightstown chestnut trained by Robert Ribaudo, was a prominent second in last year's Lucky Coin, finishing 1 1/4-lengths back of Battle Station.

A strong second in his seasonal debut in a six-furlong optional-claiming turf sprint at Belmont on July 4, Pulsate faded to fourth last out sprinting 6 1/2-furlongs on the main track on August 6 at the Spa.

Manny Franco [post 4] will look to provide Pulsate his first win since December 2019.

Patricia Generazio's New York homebred Maxwell Esquire finished 2 1/4-lengths back of Pulsate last out on July 4.

Trainer Christophe Clement said the 4-year-old Discreet Cat colt has trained well enough to earn a fourth career stakes start and first since finishing fifth in the Aqueduct Turf Sprint Championship in November.

“He's training well and doing well,” Clement said. “We were looking at other races but we'll see if he can face good horses and see what happens.”

Irad Ortiz, Jr. has picked up the mount from post 5.

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Gatsas Stables' Backtohisroots will look to make amends after stumbling at the start last out on October 4 in the Grade 3 Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational and unseating Jose Lezcano.

The 5-year-old son of Mark Valeski, a first-time gelding trained by John Terranova, boasts a record of 13-3-4-2 with purse earnings of $196,075, including a rallying score in an optional-claiming turf sprint in August 2020 at the Spa.

Backtohisroots will exit post 6 under Luis Saez.

Rounding out the field are Noble Emotion [post 3, Jose Ortiz] a four-time winner from 10 starts for trainer Horacio DePaz; Holiday Stone [post 7, Tyler Gaffalione], an eight-time winner with purse earnings of $532,159 for trainer George Weaver; The Connector [post 2, Willie Martinez], a Monmouth Park ship-in for trainer Michael Dini; and Guildsman [post 1, Ricardo Santana, Jr.], a three-time winner for trainer Robert Falcone, Jr.

The Lucky Coin is slated as Race 9 on Friday's 10-race card. First post is 1:05 p.m. Eastern. Saratoga Live will present daily television coverage of the summer meet on FOX Sports. For the complete Saratoga Live broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Saratoga Race Course, and the best way to bet every race of the summer 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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