Ken Ramsey

Dr. Kapur (c, 2, McKinzie--Ava's Kitten, by Kitten's Joy), a game second, beaten just a neck, after setting a fast pace in the coveted Travers Day maiden at Saratoga Aug. 23, ran to the money as the 4-5 favorite with a 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' performance at Keeneland Thursday. The Ken Ramsey homebred was hustled to the front, but was immediately hounded to his inside through an opening quarter in :22.47. He began to get some breathing room on the far turn, kicked for home as the one...

In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar. Given "a new lease on life" after undergoing kidney transplant surgery last June, Ken Ramsey was looking for a way to say thank you to Dr. Sandip Kapur. "This is the premier doctor in New York and he's got all kinds of accolades, but he's never had a horse named after him," the longtime owner/breeder said of Dr. Kapur, Chief of Transplant Surgery and Director of the...

Saffie Joseph, Jr. edged Jose D'Angelo to earn leading trainer honors for the 13th consecutive race meeting at Gulfstream Park. The 38-year-old native of Barbados entered Sunday's closing day of the Royal Palm Meet with a one-win lead, 55-54, and clinched the title with 4-5 favorite Drama in the third race, following a victory with Genuine Gomo in the opener. Dandona, a $1.05-million OBS April purchase, gave Joseph his third winner on the day with a victory in the 10th race. Joseph finished with 58 winners and more than $1.9...

The Championship Meet titles have been decided at Gulfstream Park with trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., and owner Ken Ramsey topping their respective categories. Joseph collected his fourth consecutive meeting accolade with 70 victories and his 12th consecutive title overall at the track. In addition to wins, he also topped the standing by purses won with more than $5.8-million to his credit. Highlights included MGISW White Abarrio (Race Day) and his exhibition-like performances in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational and last Saturday's GIII Ghostzapper Stakes on...

When it came to launching his training career, Nolan Ramsey, 28, didn't waste any time. The grandson of prominent owner Ken Ramsey, he went out on his own last May and by year's end he had won 27 races at a 25% clip. For most trainers, especially a rookie, that would be considered an excellent season. But Ramsey is convinced that he can do much better and won't be satisfied until he is recognized as one of the top trainers in the sport. A former assistant to Mike Maker, he...

The seven-day Kentucky Downs meet set another record for wagering, totaling $90,181,408 and up eight percent over last year, according to a press release from the track late Wednesday. That included a single-day record of $21,184,941 on the Saturday, Sept. 7 card featuring six graded stakes worth $2 million for Kentucky-breds ($1 million for others). As for the meet's leaders, jockey Tyler Gaffalione finished with nine wins, to pull even with Irad Ortiz Jr. for the riding title, while Brendan Walsh's sixth victory put him in a tie for the...

Saffie Joseph, Jr. collected his 10th Gulfstream Park training title in a row, while Edgard Zayas regained the top spot in the jockey standings when the Royal Palm Meet concluded Sunday. Joseph broke his own Royal Palm Meet record with 93 victories, eclipsing the 71 winners he sent out during the 2021 stand. Zayas, who won the Royal Palm Meet title in 2020 and 2021, was third in the standings in 2022 and 2023. During this year's meet, he regained the top spot in the standings with 112 winners. Ken...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.--With his romp through mud in the opener at Saratoga Race Course Saturday, Reach for the Rose (Audible) hit the target that owner-breeder Ken Ramsey and trainer Saffie Joseph were aiming at. The 5 1/2-length victory in a $100,000 maiden special for 2-year-olds that had been taken off the turf gave colt his first career win and earnings of $55,000. Far more important for Ramsey and Joseph, the win in the one-mile race against three foes is a stepping stone to the $1 million Kentucky Downs Juvenile Sept....

Owner Ken Ramsey has texted an update on his June 20 surgery in which he received a donated kidney from family friend Tom Pope, declaring his surgery not only a `huge success,' but a record-breaking one. "My kidney transplant was a huge success," said Ramsey via text. "The surgery was done at New York-Presbyterian Hospital at the Weill Cornell Transplant Center by Dr. Sandip Kapur on Thursday June 20th." Ramsey said that the kidney was donated by someone he met through his wife Sarah's long illness. "My generous donor was...

An hour after leaving the operating room following kidney transplant surgery, Ken Ramsey's attention turned to Thursday's program at Gulfstream Park, where Clearly Copper (Copper Bullet) raced and won under his familiar white and red colors in the sixth race on the card, the racetrack said in a release Thursday afternoon. "My mother's up there with him. She texted that he was asking if the horse had run yet," said grandson Nolan Ramsey in the Gulfstream Park winner's circle after saddling Clearly Copper for a 4 1/2-length maiden-breaking triumph. "An...

Ken Ramsey said that his donor kidney surgery is scheduled for Thursday morning at 9 a.m. at New York Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. "I have passed all of my tests, and my donor has passed all his essential tests," Ramsey said by text. "They've placed me on their accelerated priority list and are really taking good care of me. I will be the oldest kidney transplant they've ever done. The record is 84 and I'm going to be 88, seven months and 17 days. It's nice to be the new poster...

Owner Ken Ramsey is in critical need of a donor kidney, and said he will not survive the eight-to-10-year wait on the transplant list, estimating he has about four months to live without it. Ramsey said he currently has three options: "I either have to go on dialysis or die or get a kidney. I do not want to do the dialysis three days a week, four hours a day for the rest of my life." Ramsey has traveled to NewYork-Presbyterian Columbia Hospital in Manhattan, and is being treated at...