Owner-breeder Ramsey pursues 30-horse counterclaim against trainer Wesley Ward

Owner-breeder Ken Ramsey has gone on the offensive in a lawsuit he faces from trainer Wesley Ward for allegedly failing to pay $903,274 in training bills.

Ramsey responded to an August 3 motion filed by Ward's attorney asking for Jessamine Circuit Court Judge Hunter Daugherty to make a summary judgment ruling in the case because "there are no genuine issues of material fact to be solved".

On Thursday, Ramsey's attorney Carroll Redford III noted in the response that a case filed 90 days ago and a motion for summary judgment filed nine days ago has not provided "adequate opportunity to discover the relevant facts" and present the existence of disputed facts.

The response claims no written agreement between Ramsey and Ward exists that specifies any agreed upon rate, whether a rate applies to any specific horses or number of horses, and the timing of payment.

"So if plaintiff has so far failed to establish in the record a meeting of the minds for his original purported 'agreement' and terms he claims to exist, while the proof also comes in that it has been discovered that plaintiff was not following the directives, requests, and orders of the defendants, then the plaintiff's fundamental case may crumble out from beneath him," the response states. "Could this be why plaintiff is rushing to the courthouse with a dispositive motion?"

The reference to not following Ramsey's requests refers in part to Ward retaining control of 30 horses owned by Ramsey, which Ramsey's attorney says is forcing the owner to incur "tens of thousands of dollars in expenses" he could have otherwise avoided.

According to Ramey's response, he asked Ward around July 5 to return his horses, along with their registration papers, and was refused.

Ward then filed on July 6 for an agister's lien in Fayette County to retain ownership of the horses until the alleged debt is paid. He filed the lien in Fayette because the horses are stabled at Keeneland.

In addition to opposing the motion for summary judgment, Ramsey's attorney asked for time to prepare a countersuit to pursue taking back ownership of the horses and separate damage claims.

"This further restricts defendants' rights in their own property and the inability to race those horses without papers, and there is simply no grounds for such action by plaintiff," Ramsey's response notes.

Redford, in the response, added that under Kentucky law a plaintiff "cannot stand idly by" and allow damages and losses to further increase when they could "be easily prevented by the use of reasonable efforts, expense, and diligence to prevent, or arrest, the loss."

The Ramseys - Ken and wife Sarah - have won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Owner four times, and the award for Outstanding Breeder twice, and are well known in Europe due to their regular appearances at Royal Ascot.

They have had several runners at the meeting but a much-desired triumph has eluded them since their first visit in 2001.

They have suffered a couple of near-misses, with Steaming Home runner-up in the Windsor Castle Stakes in that debut venture, while Cannonball filled the same spot in the Golden Jubilee Stakes, as it was then, in 2009.

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