Ramseys are loaded

Ken and Sarah Ramsey won the 2004 Eclipse Award as outstanding owners, were North America's leading owners by earnings in 2005, have collected a record 15 owner's titles at Churchill Downs, and this summer were the leading owners at Saratoga for the second straight year.

One of the few things they haven't won - a Breeders' Cup race - is something they aim to change this year.

Barring a setback preceding the Breeders' Cup races on Nov. 6 and 7, Cannonball, Furthest Land, and Becky's Kitten will represent them in the Turf Sprint, Dirt Mile, and Juvenile Turf, respectively - and a number of homebred juveniles by Kitten's Joy could join them if they perform well in their final Breeders' Cup preps in the weeks ahead.

The best Breeders' Cup finishes from horses owned by the Ramseys came in 2004, when champion Kitten's Joy was the runner-up to Better Talk Now in the Turf and eventual Dubai World Cup winner Roses in May was the runner-up to Ghostzapper in the Classic.

The losses still sting the ultra-competitive Ramsey. "We are not interested in second place," he said.

As for their runners this year, Furthest Land, a $35,000 claim by the Ramseys last October, is 2 for 2 on synthetic tracks, and with the Breeders' Cup "dirt" races being contested over the synthetic Pro-Ride surface at Santa Anita this year, he is well suited to the conditions of the Dirt Mile. Furthest Land won the Grade 2 Kentucky Cup Classic last Saturday, posting a career-best 104 Beyer Speed Figure.

Cannonball, third in the 2007 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, won the Commentator Stakes at Saratoga in his last start Sept. 6 after a runner-up finish in the Group 1 Golden Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot.

And Becky's Kitten earned a Breeders' Cup start with a runner-up finish in the Grade 3 Summer Stakes at Woodbine on Sept. 19.

Mike Maker - one of four primary trainers for the Ramseys, along with Wesley Ward, Chad Brown, and Bobby Frankel - said Ramsey deserves the credit for Furthest Land's success.

"He felt he had run well sprinting when in fact his pedigree said he wanted two turns," Maker said of Furthest Land, a gelded son of Smart Strike out of a Rahy mare.

Although horses acquired via claims make up much of the Ramseys' stable, it is their success with homebreds this year that has provided them with such a talented cast of juveniles. Offspring of Kitten's Joy have flourished since races for 2-year-olds began regularly being carded on turf at longer distances, and he is now the second-leading first-crop sire in the country.

The Ramseys, who stand Kitten's Joy at their farm near Nicholasville, Ky., have more Kitten's Joy juveniles than anyone - with many being by mares that they raced or claimed with the purpose of becoming broodmares.

Of these juveniles by Kitten's Joy, Dean's Kitten is being pointed toward the Oct. 4 Pilgrim Stakes at Belmont; Scottkeith'skitten is being targeted for the Oct. 11 Bourbon Stakes at Keeneland; and Lisa's Kitten is tabbed for the Jessamine Stakes there.

Dean's Kitten and Scottkeith'skitten could join the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf picture with strong races, and Lisa's Kitten might similarly vault into the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.

William's Kitten, fresh off a score in the Sunday Silence Stakes at Louisiana Downs in a race taken off the turf and moved to dirt, is taking a different path, going to Woodbine to race on Polytrack in the Grade 3 Grey Stakes Oct. 11 - a race he could use as a prep toward the Juvenile or Juvenile Turf.