Ken and Sarah Ramsey earn national honors from TOBA

Ken and Sarah Ramsey, whose Ramsey Farm stallion Kitten’s Joy led the general sire rankings in 2013, were named both National Owners of the Year and National Breeders of the Year Friday evening at the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association’s annual awards dinner in Lexington, Ky.

TOBA announced its full list of honorees several weeks earlier, and presented state breeders awards Friday during a midday luncheon at WinStar Farm. The national Owner and Breeder of the Year awards were the only ones unveiled during the evening dinner, and little suspense preceded the announcements, as the Ramseys won Eclipse Awards in both categories by decisive margins.

The Ramseys, already recognized as the Midwestern region’s Owners of the Year, took the national award over three other regional honorees, each of whom spoke during the dinner: Ogden Phipps (Eastern region); Willis Horton (Southern region); and Gary and Mary West (Western region).

Ken Ramsey gave three acceptance speeches during the evening – for national breeder, Midwestern regional owner, and national owner – and the loquacious horseman thanked his wife, family, team, and flagship stallion Kitten’s Joy for their contributions. He also exhorted the attendees to keep supporting the horse industry and, in one of his closing remarks, invoked the catch phrase of the longtime New York handicapper and radio host Harvey Pack: “May the horse be with you.”

Kentucky natives Ken and Sarah Ramsey, who own Ramsey Farm in Nicholasville, Ky., swept the race meets at Keeneland and Churchill Downs in 2013 in the owners’ standings and also won the owners’ titles at Gulfstream’s marquee winter meet and at Saratoga. Their stallion Kitten’s Joy, a homebred turf champion during his racing days, finished 2013 with over $11.3 million in progeny earnings. On Friday, the Ramseys announced that Kitten’s Joy’s sons Big Blue Kitten and Real Solution, both Grade 1 winners last year, would retire at the end of their 2014 racing campaigns and begin their breeding careers alongside their sire at Ramsey Farm in 2015.

For a complete list of previously-announced TOBA awards, click here.