The quote from Ramsey is mind numbing.
Ramsey is something else. I’m not entirely sure what, mind you…
On the one hand you have to grudgingly admire his diligence in promoting Kitten’s Joy’s stallion career. Yes, some (a lot) of it was luck, and there was plenty of mismanagement, but no one else seemed to want to stand the horse when he retired.
He does seem to think his money means his $&#* doesn’t stink.
Updated…
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It’s most unfortunate that someone who “has a cash flow problem” but whose “net worth is better than it’s ever been” has to be sued by the people who work for him, to be paid money that has been owed to them for more than a year.
Mr. Bigshot, the people you owe aren’t claiming the large net worth that you are. Just pay them.
Honestly, why try to make the people who need to be paid for their services appear unreasonable? The entitlement stinks to high heaven.
Yes,mortgage something if you must. If only you had known that these folks needed their money 
you would have mortgaged something sooner.
If you are bankrupt, admit it. Otherwise pay them. They trusted you with a bigger bill than most people ever would.
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Methinks he doth protest too much. When someone blusters about how much they’re worth…too often it’s a desperate attempt to prop up a facade.
It’s just speculation on my part and there is of course a decent chance I’m wrong.
But the horse business has made millionaires out of multi-millionaires before.
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He has admitted that he can’t pay his bills without borrowing . I hope the trainers are paid what he owes them.
For all I know he may be a nice guy, but he sure seems to feel entitled to let others suffer when he is experiencing such “net worth”.
From the article " he was also making loan payments on three farms he bought in 2018-19". Wonder if he was paying the bank on time.
You can say what you have is worth whatever you want. Just like with Zayat. The horses are worth millions, millions. Sent to the sales, only brought in thousands.
Yes, rank entitlement. I have seen this in other fields. Wealthy people don’t seem to understand that people without wealth have bills to pay.
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Unfortunately this is not an uncommon thing with the super rich even those that don’t have cash flow issues. It’s not just entitlement but greed and naked power. How far can I push this before you are forced to do something about it and then I will threaten you if you do. Maybe you get me to pay dribs and drabs off the bill which grows every month, the size of which can legitimately swamp even the largest stable.
The thing is all of that money can buy some pretty nice horses which is the bottom line of making it in this crazy business. That is why Baffert put up with Zayat for all those years. In a real sense, he used American Pharaoh to get in with the China Horse Club and Juddmonte so he could leave Zayat behind. Because floating big shots a million dollars just because they think they are indispensable gets old fast. Not to mention the fact, that some are pretty brazen about it and it becomes a business strategy. I knew someone years ago who managed a good sized farm who got upside down with a national level owner and had to watch the same guy buy millions of dollars in yearlings at Keeneland all while owing hundreds of thousands of dollars to this farm for ages with no attempt to pay. Essentially the billionaire was being floated a no interest loan and daring them to do something about it. I guarantee the rest of us couldn’t do that.
So good for these guys to call Ramsey’s bluff.
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Horrible.
Did the trainers ever get their money out of Zayat?
This is the most recent article that I was able to find in reference to his lawsuit.
This one just popped up on my radar
Interesting, thanks.
Crazy to think that one of the biggest success stories in racing in the last 40 years would turn out this way after the fact.
I don’t usually quote the bible but it seems apt here: It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.
A personal observation is that the more money an individual has, the more they believe they don’t have enough. OK, a sweeping generalisation. I once heard one of the wealthiest persons in the UK viciously complain about a trivial bill in a restaurant, citing his poverty.
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There is more bad news on the horizon for owners, breeders, and trainers…not to mention small business in general. I may just go shopping.
This is the BHA Rules of Racing on the subject;
PAYMENT
An Owner must pay any amount payable under a Training Agreement within 3 months of being requested to do so.
Non-payment report
A Trainer may report an Owner that fails to comply with paragraph 3 to the BHA. A non-payment report must be made in writing and signed by the Trainer;
include at least the following:
the Owner’s name and address,
details of the debt;
the date that request for payment was made;
be accompanied by a copy of the unpaid invoice;
and sent no later than 15 months after the sum became payable.
A Trainer must not submit an unjustified or frivolous non-payment report.
Consequences of non-payment
If an Owner cannot provide the BHA with a good explanation for late payment, they may be added to the Forfeit List.
60A.1 The Authority may
60A.1.1 refuse to approve an application for registration, or
60A.1.2 direct that a registration shall cease to be valid
if the Authority considers that appropriate financial arrangements are not in place for the purposes of securing payment of all fees and the receipt of all payments which are due from the Owner of a horse in connection with racing.
Doe they not do that in the USA ?
Often times steward’s in America will give the horse to the trainer as payment. I think this is not the best of solutions.
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Maybe that happens in movies, but not in real life. The stewards don’t have the authority to give away a horse, and there’s no way the Jockey Club would transfer ownership under those circumstances.
Sometimes an owner can be convinced to give up a horse as payment for training bills–if the trainer agrees to that arrangement–but the stewards have nothing to do with the transaction.
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After my horse was claimed in California, the new owner did not pay his trainer’s bill and gave a handful of horses to the trainer as payment. The order is in the public record. The horse disappeared for six months, so I searched the public record. It does happen. Luckily he turned up at turf Paradise sometime later.
Yes, what you’re describing here does happen (as I said in my post).
What you said in your earlier post–about stewards often giving away horses in America–does not happen.
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The owner can do whatever he wants with his horses, whether giving to a trainer or selling. The stewards have no authority whatsoever to give people’s horses away. As LaurieB already stated.
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