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Maker, Ramsey Reach Settlement Over Delinquent Payments

Trainer Mike Maker said a settlement was reached and he has been paid.

Coady Photography

Six months after taking a dispute over delinquent payments to court, trainer Mike Maker reached a settlement with owner/breeder Ken Ramsey.

Attorneys for both Maker and Ramsey submitted an order for dismissal of the case Sept. 14. No details of the settlement are included in the order, but Maker confirmed to BloodHorse that an agreement with Ramsey had been reached and that he's been paid.

Maker sued Ramsey March 12, alleging he was owed $905,357 in delinquent training fees and board bills. The suit led to an agreement that Ramsey would pay the trainer $100,000 monthly toward the debt. Several payments were reportedly made from March through May, but then stopped. Maker went back to Fayette (Kentucky) Circuit Court Judge Julie Goodman with a July 14 motion compelling Ramsey to pay an outstanding balance of $505,385.

Ramsey responded to the July motion by outlining multiple reasons why the amount Maker requested did not accurately reflect what was owed. Several hearings were scheduled and rescheduled to sort out the details prior to the eventual settlement.

Ramsey is embroiled in a separate lawsuit with trainer Wesley Ward, also for delinquent training fees and board bills that Ward claims total $974,790.

Ward filed for summary judgment in this case Aug. 3, which means asking a judge to rule on the case without attorneys conducting discovery or the judge holding hearings because "there are no genuine issues of material fact to be resolved."

Ramsey's attorney, Carroll Redford III with Miller, Griffin & Marks, responded that much of what Ward portrays as facts warrant closer scrutiny.

"Discovery will get to the bottom of whether there was a clear meeting of the minds between these parties on terms, from when and through when, and whether the Plaintiff faltered or defaulted long ago on what he alleges he promised to do and provide," wrote Redford in Ramsey's response to the summary judgment motion.

A deposition of Ward has been scheduled for Sept. 30 at the Miller, Griffin & Marks office in Lexington. Also to be deposed is a "corporate representative" of Wesley Ward Enterprises to answer questions on the terms of contracts or agreements between the trainer and owner, details involving the daily training of every horse in training, the billing for those horses, and every decision regarding race entries, among a number of other matters.

Ward's attorney, George Smith with Stoll Keenon Ogden, doubled down on the motion for summary judgment in a Sept. 17 reply noting that "prior to the commencement of litigation, there is no evidence that Defendants ever objected to the scope of services or the amount of fees and expenses that were payable to Ward Enterprises."

After Ward filed his lawsuit March 19, he said he also had an agreement with Ramsey to receive a minimum of $100,000 per month until the debt was paid. Ramsey reportedly made one $100,000 payment and some miscellaneous other payments and then stopped paying in June. Ward filed for summary judgment when no payment was made in July.

"Defendants cannot now dispute or deny the terms of the parties' agreement or allege a lack of mutual understanding when their conduct clearly shows otherwise," stated Smith in his Sept. 17 reply.