Kitten's Joy Will Remain in U.S., But Not at Ramsey Farm

Bucking to pressure from his family, Ken Ramsey has scrapped his plans to send Kitten's Joy to Europe to stand at stud. The top sire will remain in Kentucky, but will not continue to stand at Ramsey's farm.

Ramsey said he had reached an agreement in principal with a farm in England to stand Kitten's Joy and had to “pay dearly” to get out of the deal. He declined to name the farm.

Ramsey had been upset by the prices being paid for Kitten's Joy yearlings at this year's sales and called him the “most underappreciated sire in North America.” Because Kitten's Joy's offspring have a tendency to excel on the turf Ramsey believed that moving the sire to Europe made economic sense because he would be better received on a continent where virtually all major races are run on the grass.

What he didn't count on at the time was backlash from his family. He says Kitten's Joy has become a pet to the Ramsey clan.

“My wife and my family just absolutely threw a fit over this,” he said. “My wife (Sarah) owns half of him. It became unbearable and I have to live with the family.”

Now that Ramsey has decided to keep Kitten's Joy in Kentucky the next step will be to figure out where to move him to. He said a definite decision has been made to enter into a partnership with a U.S. stud farm and transfer Kitten's Joy from Ramsey's own farm.

“He will stand here in Kentucky and we have five major farms that we are negotiating with,” he said. “We have to figure out what is the best deal for the industry, the best deal for the family and the best deal for the horse.

“We need to turn a new page and get a new, vigorous team behind this horse that will promote him and probably has more contacts in the industry than I have. One of the problems has been the perception out there that I am keeping the good ones and selling the bad ones. That's not entirely true. We just need a clean slate and at some place with somebody that has a little more creative mind than mine and may have better contacts than I do.”

Ramsey said that whatever farm gets to stand Kitten's Joy must also give him the royal treatment he has received at Ramsey Farm.

“We're always looking out for the well being of the horse,” he said. “We have here what we call 'Kitten's Spa' and it is an underwater treadmill. We exercise the horse on it three days a week and it has a vibrating platform for his bone density and there are heat lamps coming down. We treat him like a pet here. We've been to people's farms and taken a look at where he might stand, the pastures and all that. Three of the farms we have talked to agreed that if we let them have the horse they will build a spa for him just like the one we have for his exercise.”

According to TDN sales statistics, through the Keeneland September sale, Kitten's Joy's yearlings sold for an average price of $113,305. That is well below other stallions in his stud fee range, which is $100,000. Ramsey said he understands the stud fee needs to be adjusted.

“Absolutely, the stud fee will be lowered,” Ramsey said. “I'll let whoever I do a deal with set the stud fee. I am staying in for 50 percent, or something in that range. It will be a partnership. We had planned to lowering his stud fee before any of this came about.”