Ramseys Joy-Full at TOBA Awards
Much as their sire Kitten’s Joy has dominated his competition on the leading sire lists, Ken and Sarah Ramsey dominated the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association’s National Awards Dinner, held at the Lexington Convention Center Friday night. The Ramseys were honored as TOBA’s National Owner of the Year and National Breeders of the Year for 2013. The couple also were named the Midwestern Region Owner of the Year and the Kentucky Breeder of the Year. The Ramseys swept the National Owner and Breeder of the Year categories in 2011.
The Ramseys, who on the eve of their 56th wedding anniversary were joined by son Jeff and several family members, gave thanks to their trainers, as well as Ramsey Farm manager Mark Partridge, who Ken Ramsey called one of the “unsung heros of the business.”
But Ramsey said it all came down to Kitten’s Joy, last year’s leading sire by earnings. “My mother used to say that you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, so you have to have a good horse to start out with,” said Ramsey. “But I’m not going to extol all the virtues of Kitten’s Joy, because if I did, I’d be up here half of the night, and they’d start to play that funky music on me like they played on poor ol’ Willis!”
Ramsey was referring to his friend Willis Horton’s speech earlier this year at the Eclipse Awards.
The native Kentuckian was in fine form all evening. And while people talked about Ken Ramsey talking almost as much as Horton talked, he wasn’t going to be dissuaded from sharing a good story.
Ramsey explained that he nearly parted ways with Kitten’s Joy twice, first as a 2-year-old in training, then as a stallion prospect. “The Japanese wanted to buy him and a horse named Roses in May, who won the Dubai World Cup,” Ramsey explained. “I didn’t want to sell both of them, but I couldn’t afford to keep both of them, so I decided to sell one and take the money to buy broodmares to support the other. Roses in May is doing very well in Japan, but it looks like we kept the right one.”
As a juvenile in 2003, Kitten’s Joy was offered at OBS April, where he RNA’d for $95,000. A few hours after the future $2-million earner went through the ring, Ramsey received a phone call from a person who said he had bid $95,000, and would still like to buy the colt…at that price. Ramsey stood firm on his original reserve, $99,000, and hung up.
“And I never heard from him again,” Ramsey laughed.
As a breeder, Ramsey said his farm tries to raise a sound horse. “We never take our horses in,” he said. “They’re outside 365 days a year. We have big, 35-40 acre fields, and we run up to 25 or 30 horses in them, so they’re out there kicking and carrying on together. They’re raised rough. Even when we bring our mares to sell at Keeneland January, we don’t go around giving them hair cuts and having them all slick and shiny. If you guys don’t want to buy them, we take them back home. If you can’t realize what a good horse looks like because it has long hair…”
Broodmare of the Year honors went to Take Charge Lady (Dehere), dam of the 2013 champion sophomore Will Take Charge (Unbridled’s Song), as well as Grade I winner Take Charge Indy (A.P. Indy). Eaton Sales’ Reiley McDonald was on hand to accept the award.
TOBA’s regional Owners of the Year went to the Phipps Stable (Eastern region), Willis Horton (Southern region), and Gary and Mary West (Western region).
Ogden Mills “Dinny” Phipps, who along with his cousin Stuart Janney bred and raced the 2013
GI Kentucky Derby winner Orb (Malibu Moon), not only was present to accept the award, but made his impact felt in other ways. Phipps secured one of the two items up for bid Friday night–John Deere lawn equipment.
Ramsey let the audience know that Phipps had a good chance to be standing at the podium as National Breeder of the Year soon, “because he bred a mare to Kitten’s Joy this year!” said Ramsey.
Horton, who self-identified as a “hillbilly from Arkansas,” said, “It’s hard competing with Mr. Ramsey, Mr. Phipps [and the Wests]. You have to step up a notch to do it.”
Gary and Mary West thanked Dell Ridge Farm’s Des Ryan, trainers Bob Baffert and Wayne Catalano, and longtime racing manager Ben Glass. “Ben’s been a personal friend and has been our racing manager for 35 years,” said Gary West. “If you’ve been in this business, you know that for any type of relationship to last 35 years is pretty phenomenal. Ben does a great job helping to select matings for our mares, pick out racing prospects and to oversee their development. Without Ben, we might not be in this business today. So all you breeders and consignors should thank him the next time you see him–he’s made you a helluva lot of money keeping us in this game!”
Helen Alexander, a past president of TOBA, received the inaugural Robert N. Clay Award in recognition of her efforts in land conservation. Robert Meyerhoff, breeder of the likes of Broad Brush and Concern, was named National Small Breeder of the Year, while Katie Ruppel’s Houdini was named Rood and Riddle Sport Horse of the Year. For more, visit www.toba.org.